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Florida

Qeminote XU^^^

Mejrita^ge Trail

No matter where you travel in Florida, the legacy of the Seminole Indian Wars is never far away. Stay in
one of the state s major cities, and you re probably in a community that sprang up around a military
installation from the Seminole Wars. Pass through Osceola County or Dade City, and you are in a place named
in honor of one of the wars' many tragic heroes. If you take a boat ride on Lake Eustis or Lake Worth, youll be
floating on one of the numerous bodies of water named after army oflicers who first explored the peninsula
while hunting the elusive Seminole, a people shrewdly using their knowledge of their homeland, a place they
had explored long before the white man came. When you drive along a modern highway such as US301 from
Tampa to Ocala or Military Trail in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, you re retracing a path originally made
by soldiers invading what was then a very inhospitable land.

These wars were significant events, not just for Florida, but for the nation as a whole. For historians, there
were three Seminole Wars, 1817-1818, 1835-1842, and 1855-1858. For the Seminole people, it was a continual
40-year struggle to remain in their ancestral homeland. Consider these statistics from just the Second
Seminole War: It was the longest of all the Indian wars, lasting almost seven years and forcibly removing over
3,000 Seminole from Florida. It cost roughly $30 million, at a time when the annual federal budget was only
about $25 million. During one campaign, half the entire U.S. Army was engaged in the war, aided by thousands
of volunteers from as far away as Missouri. The army s top four generals all served in Florida, and all left with
their reputations diminished. It was the only Indian war where the U.S. Navy played a significant role, and the
only Indian war where slavery was a major cause of the fighting. Americans from all over the nation followed
and debated these wars, just as 21st century Americans discuss the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Seminole Wars are a tale of heroic struggle and human endurance that lies just beneath the surface of
modern-day Florida's exotic playgrounds and bustling cities and continues to exist in the heritage of today s
Seminole people. We invite you to turn the pages of this guide and begin a journey of discovery to find the
hidden history that lies just under your feet.

The Seminole Wars Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1992 to preserve significant sites involved in the
Seminole Wars, to establish educational programs about the wars' importance in Florida's heritage, and to
publish pertinent material relating to the wars. Many of the important battlegrounds, forts, Seminole villages,
and other significant sites of the wars have been lost. It is vital that the remaining artifacts and history be
found and preserved so that we can better understand these important conflicts.

In keeping with our goal of educating the public, the Foundation has produced several historically
significant books. Our members give talks to schools and the general public, while others participate in
reenactments of Seminole War battles. The Foundation has secured two major historical sites. Camp Izard and
Fort Dade, and has provided critical support for the acquisition of the Fort King site in Ocala.

The not-for-profit Seminole Wars Foundation is operated for charitable, educational, and civic purposes as
well as preservation of natural habitats. Join us in remembering the past, that we may understand the present.

^abfe of Contents

Florida's Seminole Wars

West Central Region

The Seminole Perspective

Southeast Region

Telling a Balanced Story

Southwest Region

Northwest Region

Post-War Seminole

Northeast Region

Contributors/Image Credits

Regional Map of Sites

Further Reading

East Central Region

Reenactments/Campaign l\/laps

• Credits •

Produced by the Seminole Wars Foundation, Inc.

35247 Reynolds Street, Dade City Florida 33523

Richard Tombrink, President Roger Landers, Vice President

Dr. Samuel Smith, Secretary Debra Harper, Treasurer

seminolewars.org

EditorS'ln-Chief/Project Administrators

John and Mary Lou Missall

Assistant Editors

Gary Ellis, Christopher Kimball, Dr. Joe Knetsch, Harry Pickering, Patsy West

Graphic Designer

Patti Cross

All articles by John and Mary Lou Missall unless credited otherwise.

• Acknowledgments •

We would like to thank the following for their support and assistance: Richard & Margaret Blizzard,
Jerry Casale, Dale Cox, Morrey Deen, James Fiske, Bruce Graetz, Kechia Herring, Susanne Hunt,
Pat LaBree, Paul & Connie Missall, Bridget O'Bryan, Dave Porfiri, Richard Sanchez, Dr. Samuel Smith,
Dr. Annette Snapp, Jackson & Nancy Walker, Jean Ellen Wilson, Jon Yeager, and Lynn Yeldell. We would also
like to thank the dedicated staffs and volunteers of the many museums and parks we visited for their cheerful
assistance. Additional appreciation goes to Willie Johns (Chief Justice-Seminole Tribal Court and former Tribal
Historian) and Pedro Zepeda of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for their valuable contributions to this work.

This publication has been financed in part with historic preservation grant assistance provided by the
Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the Florida Historical Commission.
However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Florida Department
of State, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement
or recommendation by the Florida Department of State or the Seminole Wars Foundation.

^[oridas Qemino[e ^^l^ars

For over four decades the Seminole Indians
battled the United States for the right to remain
in their Florida homeland, but it would be a mistake
to think the conflict was solely about land. It was a
fight for freedom, identity, and dignity played out over
a wild landscape that shaped the future for both sides.
It was also part of a cultural clash that began when the
first European set foot on a Florida beach, would spread
across the continent, and continues to this day.

Many factors led to tensions between white
Americans and Seminole Indians. The trouble started
with cattle (page 21) and became embroiled with the
issue of slavery (page 3), Adding to the tension after
1814 was an influx of Creek Indians from Georgia
and Alabama, who were either refugees from a civil
war between rival Creek factions or people who were
displaced by white encroachment. These Indians held
a deep-seated animosity toward white Americans
that only added to the ill-will that existed between the
Seminole and their northern neighbors.

Another factor was the strong desire by the United
States to control the peninsula for economic and security
reasons. Much of the commerce of Georgia and Alabama
traveled to market via rivers that flowed through Spanish
Florida. The colony had also been used by the British
during the War of 1812 (page 15)j and Americans felt
the southern portions of the nation would always be
vulnerable as long as Florida remained in foreign hands.

Tensions only increased after the United States
acquired Florida from Spain in 1821. Settlers began to
enter the new Territory of Florida to set up homesteads
or build plantations (page 23) employing numerous
slaves. Having hunted and lived in Florida for numerous
generations, the Seminole occupied the best agricultural
and grazing land. Settlers and speculators pressured
government officials to remove the Indians, either to a
reservation within the peninsula or to land west of the
Mississippi River. The Seminole, a proud people who
loved their culture and their homeland, would not be
forced from their homes without a fight.

Who Are the Seminole?

The Seminole people are unique among American
Indian tribes in that we have historical evidence of their
formation. When the Spaniards arrived, Florida was
populated by hundreds of thousands of Native Americans
divided into numerous nations. Within 200 years these
tribes were nearly extinct, having succumbed to warfare,
European diseases, and forced labor.

Into the void came Indians from established
tribes in what is now Georgia and Alabama. Prior
to the 1700s, various groups migrated to Florida
for several reasons. Some were looking for

i new hunting grounds; others were fleeing white

' expansion, while still others left their homelands
because of conflicts within their own tribes.
Settling in different areas at various times
and occasionally mixing with indigenous

I tribes, these groups took on separate
identities and were generally divided

t into two linguistic groups: Mikasuki and

't Muskogee. One of the oldest and most

C powerful tribes was the Mikasuki, who

^ lived northeast of Tallahassee. Another Neamathia

\' (Image courtesy of the P.K.

University of Florida )

large group lived around the Alachua Prairie. Other,
smaller bands were scattered throughout the peninsula.

Europeans who came into contact with the various
tribes began to apply the term "Seminole," meaning
"runaway" or "outsider," to any Indian living in Florida.
For the Seminole, however, the distinction between
traditional groups remains. Today, most members of
the official Seminole Tribe of Florida are Mikasuki-
speaking and live in the Collier, Miami-Dade,
and Broward County areas, although there
are Muskogee-speaking members who live
northwest of Lake Okeechobee. There is also
a smaller, politically separate Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians of Florida living west of
Miami who share common ancestors
with members of the Seminole Tribe.
For the purposes of this guide, we
will generally use the common term
"Seminole" to refer to any Florida
Indian of the Seminole War period.

Yonge Library of Florida History,

oJlte ^irst Qeminole ^^{X)ar

Increasing tensions between the settlers of southern
Georgia and the Seminole Indians residing in Spanish
Florida led to an outbreak of violence in late 1817.
The spark that ignited the war was an American
military excursion against the Seminole village of
Fowltown in southwest Georgia, whose headman,
Neamathla, had complained of white encroachment
upon his land. The attack on Fowltown was followed
a week later by a retaliatory ambush on a military
vessel that was ascending the Apalachicola River
in Florida's panhandle. The attack, known as the
Scott Massacre (page 16)y resulted in the deaths of
approximately 40 soldiers and dependents.

In response, the War Department ordered Major
General Andrew Jackson (page 7) to invade Florida
for the purpose of punishing the Seminole and driving
them out of north Florida. In March 1818 Jackson
entered Florida with more than 3,000 men, about half
of whom were Creek Indians. After destroying the
Miccosukee villages in the Tallahassee region, Jackson
turned south and captured the small Spanish outpost
at St. Marks (page 19). He then proceeded further
south, fighting a battle at Econfina Creek (page 19)
and eventually driving the Seminole beyond the
Suwannee River after a battle at Old Town. Jackson
then returned to St. Marks and ordered the trial
and execution of two British subjects who had been
captured during the offensive (page 19). He also ordered
the hanging of two influential Indian leaders, Hillis
Hadjo and Homathlemico, who had been lured out
to an American warship flying a British Union Jack.

The war against the Seminole may have been over,
but the invasion was not. Claiming the Spaniards were
offering sanctuary to the Indians and supplying them
with arms, Jackson exceeded his orders by traveling over
100 miles to the west to attack and capture Pensacola,
the capital of Spanish West Florida (page 14). Leaving
the army in possession of the city, Jackson returned to
Tennessee. The generals actions caused considerable
diplomatic problems with Spain and England and led to
lengthy debates in Congress concerning the power of the
military and the president. In 1819, after lengthy talks
that did not include Seminole representatives, Spain
agreed to cede Florida to the United States. When the
territory changed hands in 1821, Andrew Jackson was
appointed its first governor.

Abraham, Black Seminole interpreter and war leader, ca.1 836-1 840.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, floridamemory.com/items/show/31651)

The Black Seminoles

More than any other Indian conflict, the Seminole
Wars were strongly influenced by the issue of slavery.
For over a century, blacks held in bondage in Georgia
and the Carolinas had fled to freedom in Spanish Florida.
Many joined the Seminole and some became influential
leaders. They often resided in their own villages close
to Indian settlements and developed their own culture,
with a mix of Indian, African, and American influences.
Although numerous blacks lived voluntarily among the
Seminole, many were actually purchased slaves. Their
plantation experience made them skilled farmers, which
yielded profits to their owners, who could sell the slaves'
surplus produce. Yet Seminole slaves were treated much
like any other tribal member, and for most of them it was
as close to freedom as they could hope to get.

After Florida became a United States Territory in
1821, Southern slave owners pressured the government
to recover their "stolen" slaves. Treaties contained
clauses demanding the return of runaways, and
unscrupulous slave catchers often took blacks that had
been properly purchased by the Seminole or free men
and women who had been born into the tribe. Because
Indians and blacks were effectively barred from the
court system, they were rightfully resentful for the loss
of friends, family members, or valuable slaves. Blacks,
fearing a return to slavery, pressured the Seminole to
resist removal to the West and when war broke out, they
became some of the tribe's fiercest warriors. Others,
fearing capture, fled Florida by canoe, taking refuge in
the Bahamas, where slavery had been abolished.

oJerntoriaf ^forida

rr.... r ^ ^

When the United States acquired Florida from
Spain there were approximately 30,000 residents
in the Territory, nearly half of them African slaves.

Most of the population lived
around the only towns of any
notable size, St. Augustine
and Pensacola, or in scattered
plantations and homesteads
in north Florida. With the
exception of a small settlement
at Key West, very few whites
lived in the southern two-thirds
of the peninsula. The Seminole
population was estimated
at around 5,000, including
hundreds of blacks. Seminole
villages were located primarily
in the northern portion of the
Territory, near areas of good
agricultural and grazing land.

Treaty of Moultrie Creek
signature page.

(Image courtesy of the State
Archives of Florida, floridamemory.
com/items/show/22526)

Timeline
Qeminok ^JJi)ars
1817

November 20 Army attacks Mikasuki village of Fowltown.
November 30 Scott Massacre.

• 1818

March 12 General Andrew Jackson invades Florida.

March - April American forces attack and destroy Seminole/
Mikasuki villages as far south as the
Suwannee River.

April 6 Jackson captures Spanish post at St. Marks.

May 7 Army departs St. Marks on way to Pensacola.

May 23 Jackson captures Spanish capital at
Pensacola. End of First Seminole War.

1819

February 22 Adams-Onis Treaty signed, ceding
Florida to tiie U.S.

. 1822

March 30 Florida becomes a U.S. Territory.

1823

September 18

Treaty of Moultrie Creek.

1832

In September 1823 the Seminole relented to white
pressure and signed the Treaty of Moultrie Creek (page 6).
This agreement forced the Seminole to surrender claim
to all territory in Florida with the exception of a four-
million-acre reservation in the center of the peninsula.
Reluctantly, and with little assistance from the
government, the Seminole moved onto the reservation.
To monitor the Indians, Fort Brooke (page 36) was
constructed at a location that would eventually
become the city of Tampa, and an Indian Agency was
established at Fort King (page 38), which would later
become the city of Ocala.

As the Florida Territory's population increased
and expanded into the wilderness, altercations
between the newcomers and natives intensified. Many
Seminole occupied land that was coveted by settlers,
which brought them into conflict with squatters and
speculators. Other Indians had moved onto areas of
the reservation where not enough food could be grown,
which forced them to either steal or beg from their

1835

December 28 Dade Battle, killing of Agent Thompson.
December 31 Battle at the Withlacoochee River.

1836

February 27- March 6

General Gaines under siege at Camp Izard.

March 22 -April 6

General Scott's campaign.

November 21 Battle of Wahoo Swamp.

December 4 General Jesup takes command of the war.

1837

March 18 Fort Dade capitulation.

June 2 The Seminole flee the emigration camp.

September - December

Seminole leaders, including Osceola, taken
prisoner under flags of truce.

November 29 Coacoochee, black leader John Cavallo,
and 18 others escape from Fort Marion.

December 25 Battle of Okeechobee.

1838

May 9

Treaty of Payne's Landing.

January 15 Powell's Battle of Loxahatchee.

January 24 Jesup's Battle of Loxahatchee.

January 31 Osceola dies in prison at Charleston.

May 16 Command of the war is turned over to
General Zachary Taylor.

white neighbors. The one item of wealth the Seminole
possessed, their cattle, also caused trouble (page 21).
In a land with unfenced, open ranges, the rustling of
cattle by both sides was a continuous problem.

In 1830, under intense pressure from President
Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal
Act. The intention of this law was to relocate all
Indians living east of the Mississippi to new lands in
the west. The five "civilized" tribes of the southeast
(Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole)
were to be placed in an official Indian Territory, in
what is now the state of Oklahoma. One by one,
the native nations were forced to sign treaties that
obligated them to emigrate.

The Seminole were pressured into signing the Treaty
of Paynes Landing in 1832 (page 6), which stipulated they
would leave Florida within three years. The agreement
was contingent upon the tribal council receiving the
report of a delegation of seven chiefs who would inspect
the proposed western reservation. Although the members

. 1839 .

March Commanding General Alexander Macomb is
dispatched to negotiate with the Seminole.

May 18 Macomb reaches an agreement with the
largest Seminole band, allowing
them to remain in Southwest Florida.

July 23 The Seminole attack a trading post on the
Caloosahatchee River. The war resumes.

. 1840

May 5 Taylor relieved by General Armistead.

May 22 Coacoochee attacks a troupe of actors near
St. Augustine.

August 7 Seminole attack on Indian Key.

• 1841

May 31 Armistead is replaced by Colonel Worth.
June 4 Coacoochee captured.

1842

April 29 Halleck Tustennuggee, leader of the last
significant hostile band, taken prisoner.

August 14 Worth declares an end to the war.

• 1845

March 3

Florida becomes the 27th state in the Union.

of the delegation did place their marks upon a document
stating their satisfaction with the new land, upon their
return to Florida they denounced the agreement as being
fraudulent, claiming they had either been forced or
tricked into signing, and insisting the final determination
lay not with them, but with the tribal council. With both
sides refusing to give in, the stage was set for war.

"Plans of War."

(Artist Guy LaBree, Collection of James Billie, Image courtesy of Pat LaBree)

1849

July Renegade band of Seminoles make attacks

near Fort Pierce and Paynes Creek.

. 1852

September Bowlegs and several other leaders are taken

to Washington to meet President Millard Fillmore.

. 1855

December 20 Army reconnaissance party is attacked by the
Seminole. Several soldiers killed and wounded.

. 1856

March - May Indian attacks in Sarasota-Bradenton area.

April 17 Battle in the Big Cypress, largest of the war.

June 14-16 Battle of Tillis Farm, near Fort Meade.

September General Harney put in command of war.

_1857

January - December

Continuous patrols into the Big Cypress
and Everglades puts pressure on Seminoles.

April Harney replaced by Colonel Loomis.

. 1858

March 27

May 4

Bowlegs agrees to emigrate, Sam Jones refuses
to negotiate and remains hidden in the Everglades.

Bowlegs and his band of 165 Seminole leave
Florida for the west. The Seminole Wars are over.

cJTie Qecond Qeminofe ^^lX)^i^

For the next three years, the Seminole quietly
resisted all attempts to gather the tribe for
deportation to the west. Hostile feelings turned
into open warfare on December 28, 1835, when the
Seminole attacked and nearly wiped out a detachment
of 108 soldiers commanded by Major Francis L. Dade
(page 41) J who they feared had been sent to gather them
for deportation. On the same day, famed Seminole
leader Osceola (page 27) killed Indian Agent Wiley
Thompson outside Fort King.

Within weeks, the Seminole scored other stunning
victories. On December 31 they repulsed a force of
750 soldiers and volunteers threatening their villages
near the Withlacoochee River (page 34), By the middle

' Treaties: A Blueprint for War

In the years before the Second Seminole War, several
^ treaties were signed between the Seminole people and
" the United States. Although these treaties were intended
to prevent conflict, the final result was just the opposite.

Treaty of Moultrie Creek, 1823. After the United
States acquired Florida from Spain in 1821 , it was feared
■I conflict would result from the influx of settlers attempting
t- to set up homesteads on land occupied by the Seminole.
i In an effort to prevent bloodshed, the government
I proposed moving the Indians away from areas most
J likely to be settled by whites. The Seminole were given
:■ a four-million-acre reservation in central Florida, a
\ generous annuity, and various services for 20 years.
I Although most Seminole eventually migrated to the
\ reservation, they did not thrive there and friction with
j their white neighbors increased.

t Treaty of Payne's Landing, 1832. The Indian
\ Removal Act of 1830 mandated that all Indians living east
' of the Mississippi River be offered new lands in the west.
; Participation was supposed to be voluntary but rarely

of January they had destroyed virtually every sugar
plantation in Florida (page 23), ruining the Territory's
largest industry and freeing hundreds of slaves.

Hearing of the destruction of Dade s command,
Major General Edmund R Gaines (page 37) came
from New Orleans to Florida in February of 1836
with over 1,100 men. Gaines was confronted at the
Withlacoochee River and forced to erect a defensive
enclosure known as Camp Izard. The army then found
itself held under siege for over a week before being
rescued and forced to withdraw.

Unaware of Gaines s presence in Florida, Rresident
Jackson placed Major General Winfield Scott (page 33)
in charge of the war. Scott fielded 5,000 men in an
elaborate plan to surround and capture the Seminole
warriors and their families. The campaign ended in
embarrassment when it failed to locate, kill, or capture
any significant number of Indians. The Seminole,
determined to preserve their homeland and way of
life, were proving a much more formidable enemy than
anyone had anticipated.

Due to heavy rains and rampant disease, offensive
operations were suspended for the summer months, as

was. With over ten years still remaining on the Treaty of
Moultrie Creek, negotiators coerced Seminole leaders
into signing away all rights to their homes in Florida in
exchange for land in what is now Oklahoma.

Treaty of Fort Gibson, 1833. As part of the Treaty
of Payne's Landing, a delegation of Seminole Chiefs
was given the opportunity to examine the proposed
reservation. At Fort Gibson in Arkansas, the delegation
was pressured into signing a paper saying they liked
the new land. The government contended this ratified
the treaty on the part of the Indians. The Seminole
disagreed, saying the chiefs were only advisors and
that the final decision was up to the tribal council.
Intransigence on both sides led to war.

For the Seminole of Florida, the most important
treaty is one that does not exist. No treaty ended
the Third Seminole War; the parties simply stopped
fighting. The descendants of those who succeeded in
the struggle to remain in their homeland can truly claim
to be "unconquered."

the army abandoned the interior and gathered at "healthy"
posts along the coast. As would happen for the next five
years, the relatively quiet summers allowed the Seminole
to rest, grow their crops, and prepare for winter and the
resumption of army campaigns. In the meantime, scattered
attacks on travelers and homesteads continued.

In the fall of 1836 an offensive began again under
the leadership of Florida Governor Richard K. Call
(page 17)y a protege of President Jackson and a veteran
of previous Indian Wars. Leading a large force of
volunteers and regular soldiers. Call managed to force the
Seminole from their strongholds near the Withlacoochee
River but was stalled at the Battle of Wahoo Swamp,
allowing the Indians time to escape into the unmapped
Florida wilderness.

The year 1837 proved to be a turning point in the war.
Command of the conflict was given to Major General
Thomas Jesup (page 35), who began a methodical drive
to force the Seminole to surrender. Forts were established
throughout the Indian-occupied land and mobile columns
of soldiers scoured the countryside. Feeling the pressure,
many Seminole, including head chief Micanopy
(picture, page 13), signed the Articles of Capitulation at
Fort Dade in March 1837. The Seminole slowly gathered
for emigration near Tampa, but in June they fled the
detention camps, forcing a resumption of the war.

Jesup also employed the navy (page 32), It was
the only time the maritime branch of the service was
utilized in an Indian war. Because the government
believed the Seminole forces were being supplied
by Bahamians and Cubans, the navy had been
patrolling the coasts since the beginning of the war.
Jesup expanded the navy s role by using coordinated
attacks from land and sea. Surplus sailors were
used to man forts and Marines came ashore to
supplement foot soldiers.

Incensed at what he felt was Seminole treachery for
surrendering then leaving the detention camps, Jesup
responded in kind, taking many Seminole leaders
prisoner while negotiating under a flag of truce. The
most important captive was Osceola, who would later
die in captivity. Other leaders, including Micanopy,
were also taken in this manner. While the practice was
successful in removing many Seminole leaders, it also
helped solidify the native resistance and created an
outpouring of white sympathy for the Seminole cause.

Florida Governor Andrew Jackson, 1821.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida,
■j floridamemory. com/items/show/1 28711)

Andrew Jackson: Hero or Villain?

For most Americans during the time of the Seminole
Wars, Andrew Jackson was the nation's greatest hero
since George Washington. They felt he had saved the
country at the Battle of New Orleans and brought true
democracy to our political system. The "Jacksonian Era"
brought astounding change to the nation.

Yet for many Native Americans, Andrew Jackson was

! the great enemy. He had made his name as an Indian

J fighter, brutally destroying the Red Stick Creeks at the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, and had invaded Florida
in the First Seminole War. More than that, he was the man
who pushed the Indian Removal Act through Congress

1 and was responsible for the infamous "Trail of Tears."
Yet it would be wrong to look at Jackson in such
simple terms. His hatred wasn't reserved only for Native
Americans. He strongly disliked most Europeans,

ii especially the British. Those who were politically opposed
to him or had crossed him in some other way often
acquired a life-long adversary. On the other hand, he
could be kind to defeated Indian enemies, even to
the point of adopting an orphaned Indian child. When
a friendly Indian village was attacked by Georgia
militiamen, he swore vengeance on those who had
carried out the attack. An impatient man, Jackson acted
decisively and did not like to be bothered by annoying
details. In war, such an attitude often led to quick
success. In situations such as the process of Indian
Removal, the results could be disastrous.

oPie Qecond Qeminofe ^lX)ar

(continued)

Weapons of War

At the beginning of the Second Senninole
War the nnain firearnn of the U.S. soldier was
the 1816 Springfield nnusket. This snnoothbore
weapon was loaded by pouring gunpowder
and a nnusket ball down the nnuzzle and using
a rannrod to pack it in place. It was fired using
the antiquated flintlock systenn, which produced
a spark that would ignite the gunpowder. A gun
using this cunnbersonne process could fire a
nnaxinnunn of three shots per nninute, was not
very accurate, and had an effective range of
about 100 yards. In contrast, the Senninole
'often used connnnon hunting rifles with spiral
grooves in the barrel that increased range and
accuracy and were sonnetinnes fired utilizing
reliable percussion cap nnechanisnns.
As a show of good faith, the governnnent
had ordered 2,200 Derringer rifles for the
Senninole at the Treaty of Payne's Landing
in 1832, giving the Indians nnore advanced
weapons than the connnnon soldier. As the
war proceeded, however, Senninole guns
fell into disrepair and the quality of their
firearnns lessened.

As new technologies were introduced,
the arnny experinnented with novel weapons.
Dragoons (cavalry) were issued the Hall's
carbine, which had a breech loading
^ nnechanisnn for easier loading on
■ horseback. Colt revolving rifles were
also tested in Florida. Many of these
experinnental guns were dangerous,
unreliable, and generally disliked
by the soldiers. These new firearnns
would lead to advances used in the
Third Senninole War and the Civil War,
but the original Springfield nnusket
rennained in use as the nnain firearm
for the U.S. soldier throughout all
three Seminole Wars.
-Article by Christopher Kimball

Model 1816 Springfield Musket.

(Image courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

In November 1837 Jesup launched a massive
campaign employing over 9,000 men, approximately
half of them civilian volunteers. This was a large army
for the time, in light of the fact that at the beginning
of the war the entire U.S. Army numbered only 7,000
men. The offensive swept south through the peninsula
in several large columns and culminated in the Battle of
Okeechobee (page 45) on Christmas Day 1837, and in
the Battles of Loxahatchee (page 46) several weeks later.
The American forces, led by Colonel Zachary Taylor,
would hail the Okeechobee battle as a great victory,
but it could also be considered a Seminole victory, as
it stopped the army, inflicted severe casualties on the
Americans, and provided time for the Seminole women
and children to escape to the Everglades.

General Jesup and his senior staff officers felt as
if they had at last won the war. They had killed or
captured the majority of the Seminole and their senior
leaders, and the remnants had been driven deep into the
Everglades. By offering freedom in the west to many of
the Black Seminole, Jesup had removed most of them
from the conflict. Realizing the futility of trying to follow
the Indians into the Everglades, Jesup asked the War
Department to declare an end to the conflict. Secretary
of War Joel Poinsett, not wishing to compromise the
Van Buren Administration s Indian Removal policy by
allowing any Seminole to remain in Florida, refused to
let the war end.

Believing he had done all he could, Jesup asked to be
relieved and was replaced by Zachary Taylor, who had
been promoted to Brigadier General after the Battle
of Okeechobee. The war now entered a new phase, a
two-sided war of attrition that would last another four
years and accomplish very little, other than the loss
of hundreds of lives (Seminole, white, and black) and
the expenditure of millions of dollars. Taylor fought a
defensive war, concentrating on protecting the settled
portions of the Territory and building numerous roads
and bridges.

"After much suffering they have been driven
into the swamps and unwholesome places of their
country, and they are now clinging with the last
efforts of desperation to their beloved home?

- Officer of the Fourth Artillery, U.S. Army

By early 1839, the government realized that it would
be almost impossible to drive the remaining Seminole
from Florida. In a highly unusual move, President
Martin Van Buren dispatched the army s highest
officer. Major General Alexander Macomb (page 44),
to negotiate a peace with the Seminole. An agreement
was reached with a portion of the Seminole, allowing
them to remain in southwest Florida, but the peace was
shattered in July 1839 by an Indian attack on a trading
post located along the Caloosahatchee River. The
government saw no alternative but to continue the war
until every last Seminole was removed.

After two years in command and with no end to
the war in sight, Zachary Taylor asked to be relieved.
He was replaced by Brigadier General Walker K.
Armistead, who began a policy of continuing offensive
operations during the summer months, penetrating the
Everglades by canoes and small boats, hoping to force
the Seminole from their safe havens. The policy was
not aggressively pursued, however, and the Seminole
became more emboldened. Fighting against Armistead
were two of the Seminole s most courageous leaders,
Abiaka (Sam Jones) (page 42), a spiritual leader who
remained one step ahead of the army, and Coacoochee
(Wildcat) (page 25), a young chief who took the war
north, into the settled portions of the Territory. Still,
as small groups of Indians surrendered or were taken
prisoner, the Seminole forces dwindled.

The Seminole may have been under pressure,
but they were not yet ready to give up. Soon after
Armistead took command, a major battle took place
near Micanopy (page 22), leaving at least ten soldiers
dead. Several days later, a few miles west of St.
Augustine, Coacoochee and his men attacked a group
of itinerant actors, killing six people (page 27), One of
the most daring raids took place in the Florida Keys
when a group of warriors led by Chakaika attacked
Indian Key, the county seat of Dade County, killing
seven people, including noted botanist Dr. Henry
Perrine (page 45), In December 1840, exactly five years
after the annihilation of Dade s command, another
battle took place near Micanopy, resulting in the
deaths of five soldiers and the young newlywed wife of
Lieutenant Alexander Montgomery, who led a rescue
party that arrived too late to save her and the others.

Fort Sites, Battlefields,
and Historical Markers

The Seminole Wars were a major conflict, yet the ravages
of time and the relentless pressures of development
have served to obliterate all but a few significant sites.
Approximately 200 forts and other military installations
were erected during the wars. Some have evolved into
thriving cities, but most have simply rotted away, leaving
no trace of their ephemeral existence. Battlefields have
suffered similar fates. Only the military cemetery and
fortress at St. Augustine remain largely as they were at the
end of the Seminole Wars.

While the physical memory of the wars has for the most
part disappeared, dedicated people interested in Florida's
history have helped preserve some of that vanished
legacy. Many of the museums featured in this guide devote
a portion of their display space to the wars, even though it
is not the institution's primary focus. In some communities,
citizens have worked tirelessly to save battlefields or fort
sites and develop them into parks where visitors can learn
about the desperate events that took place on that very
ground. At a number of those sites, reenactors gather
annually to relive the day when soldiers and warriors
fought to the death for their homes and their futures.

Many Seminole War sites would be completely forgotten
if not for the occasional Historical Marker placed by various
groups, most notably the DAR and the State of Florida.
Some are in the middle of bustling urban areas; others
are in remote locations where few people pass. Those
placed through the Florida Historical Marker Program
are designated with ffl. For more information on the
program, online application, and marker locations,
visit flheritage.com/preservation/markers. Although
there may be
little to see or do
at these places,
we encourage
you to stop, read
the sign, and
contemplate the
changes that
have taken place.
Florida was, and
still is, a land worth
fighting for.

oPte Qeconcf Qeminofe ^lX)ar

(continued)

In May 1841, Armistead was replaced by Colonel
William Worth, who increased the pressure on the
Seminole to surrender. Finally, in the summer of 1842,
after seven years of desperate warfare, an agreement
was reached with the few hundred remaining Seminole,
allowing them to live in southwest Florida. Americas
longest Indian war was over. Losses included nearly
1,500 men in the army, almost 150 in the navy, and

uncounted hundreds of volunteers, militiamen, and
civilians, with the vast majority of the fatalities due to
disease, rather than combat. Hundreds of Seminole
died during the conflict, either at the hands of soldiers
or from malnutrition and disease. Over 3,000 Seminole
were forcibly removed from their homes and sent to
inhospitable lands in what is now Oklahoma. Many did
not survive the trip to their new homes, while others
died shortly after their arrival.

U.S. Model 1833 Enlisted Dragoon Saber.

(Image courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

Second Seminole War Memorial, St. Augustine

At the conclusion of the Second Seminole War, Colonel
William Worth ordered that the remains of hundreds of
officers who had died in the war and enlisted men who had
been killed in action be disinterred from posts throughout
the Territory and reburied at the military cemetery adjacent
to the St. Francis Barracks in St. Augustine. In a solemn
ceremony held on August 15, 1842, the remains were
placed under three coquina pyramids with full military
honors. A marble obelisk, paid for by donations from soldiers

serving in Florida, was erected in front of the pyramids.

For the Seminole, no such memorial was possible.
In some cases, the remains of Indian leaders were
taken for scientific study or buried far from their
homelands. The quest for the repatriation of remains
continues to be a struggle for the Seminole of today.

Today these monuments are seen as a tribute to all
who died in the wars, fighting for a disputed homeland
and the futures of their peoples.

Military cemetery adjacent to St. Francis Barracl<s, St. Augustine.

oJhe oPtird Qeminole ^^{X)ar

Florida became a state in 1845, but settlement was
hampered in part by the effects of the Second
Seminole War. Throughout the war, people had
frequently heard from disgruntled soldiers that the
land was worthless, often under water, and plagued by
disease and unbearable temperatures in the summer.
In addition, the presence of the remaining Seminole,
whose tenacity and ferocity in the past war had become
legendary, made other portions of the nation appear
more favorable for settlement. Wanting to remove
the perceived Seminole threat, the government began
to pressure the remaining Seminole to emigrate to
Oklahoma. Chief Billy Bowlegs (Holata Micco) (page 51)
refused, and war erupted in December 1855.

Once again the government brought in hundreds of
soldiers and began to patrol the Everglades in search of
Seminole hideouts. The frontier population fled to the
cities or nearby fortifications as the Seminole raided
isolated homesteads. This time, however, the war was
confined to the southern portion of the peninsula.
In the early part of the conflict, raids occurred near
Brooksville, Tampa, Bradenton, and Sarasota. In mid-
June of 1856, a small battle took place near Fort Meade
(page 50), where an important Seminole leader, Oscen
Tustennuggee, was slain. From then on, most of the
fighting took place south of Lake Okeechobee.

The fighting continued for another two years, with
numerous small skirmishes and few large battles. The
Federal Government, needing troops in other parts
of the nation, began to withdraw forces in mid- 1857,
leaving much of the fighting to the Florida Volunteers
and Militia (page 30), Having learned the lessons of
the Second Seminole War, the military dispatched
numerous "boat companies" into the Everglades and
the waterways that surrounded it. Villages and fields
were located and destroyed. Small groups of Indians
were captured and sent west. At the same time,
delegations of Seminole chiefs were brought from the
western Indian Territory in hopes of convincing their
eastern brethren to join them. For the most part, the
Florida Seminole refused to negotiate.

The war of attrition continued until the spring of
1858, when Bowlegs agreed to emigrate after meeting
with chiefs who had been brought from the reservations
in the west. At war s end an estimated 300 Seminole
remained in Florida, a tenacious people who had
refused to give up the land they loved.

Charles Downing.

(Portrait courtesy of the Collection of the Museum of Florida History)

Politics As Usual

The Seminole Wars were extremely expensive
affairs, and it was up to the United States Congress
to supply the funds. During the Second Seminole War
Florida was a Territory, represented by a delegate with
no voting rights in either the House or Senate. For
most of the war that delegate was Charles Downing,
a Virginia-born lawyer from St. Augustine who served
from 1837 to 1841 . Downing fought tirelessly to secure
funds to conduct the war, although relatively powerless
because of his non-voting status. He was often aided
by other Southern Congressmen, who wanted the
Seminole removed to eliminate the perceived safe
haven for runaway slaves among the Florida Indians.

Downing needed all the help he could get. As the
war dragged on, even sympathetic Congressmen began
to question the Administration's motives. Henry Wise of
Virginia complained of the constant, last-minute calls for
funding. "It is in this manner that nine-tenths, if not all
of the eight, nine or ten millions of dollars which have
been appropriated for this fatal, disastrous, disgraceful
Seminole campaign have been obtained." It was
politics, as much as any other factor, that caused the
Seminole Wars to last so long.

cJTie Qeminote perspective

The Seminole Wars of the 19th century were
a defining point for an entire population,
what is today known as the Seminole Tribe of
Florida, Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida,
and Independent Seminoles. Native Americans
possessed an organized military long before the
arrival of Europeans in what is now the Southeastern
United States. The names of many of the Seminole
leaders during the war dually served as their title
during times of war. Titles such as Tustennuggee,
Hadjo, or Emathla would denote that person s
ranking or role during war time.

How were the Seminoles able to fight against the
military might of the U.S. government for over 40
years? One of the reasons was the organized military
system already built into the culture of the Seminole
people. This was done through naming of Seminole
men, inherited roles carried out by various clans
within the tribe, and specific training given to young
boys and men associated with their ranking or role
in war. Among Seminoles, one of the most important
aspects of going to war is the traditional medicine
and cultural etiquette used to maintain the safety of
Seminole warriors and families.

Belt plate found at Fort Stansbury.

(Image courtesy of the Florida Division of
Historical Resources, BAR collection)

The feeling of the Seminoles during wartime would
have been different from that of white Americans or
the soldiers participating in the campaigns against
the Seminole people. A major difference, that many
Seminole still express today, is that the Seminole
Wars were viewed as a single struggle that lasted
beyond the close of what history calls the Third
Seminole War. For the Seminoles that remained in
Florida for the 40 years of conflict, escape from the
fighting would likely only happen through forcible
removal from Florida, fleeing into the Caribbean,
or to die in battle or an ambush. Simply put, most
Seminoles fought hard to stay in their homeland,
never knowing when they might be captured or killed
over the long years of the Seminole Wars.

Such a long period of warfare affected surviving
generations, reaching far beyond the years of
hostilities between the Seminoles and the United
States. Among modern Seminoles, oral stories of
the wars are still told, title-names are still given, and
traditional cultural practices related to wartime are
still carried on.

- Pedro Osceola Zepeda
Former Outreach Coordinator,
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum

A Symbol for Both Sides

When asked to design a graphic that represented
both sides in the Seminole Wars, artist Jackson
Walker looked for objects that were similar in
purpose, yet unique to each culture. A soldier carried
his ammunition in a cartridge box on his right side
and his bayonet on his left side, both suspended
by white belts that crossed over his chest and were
secured by a round metal buckle (see painting, page
47). A Seminole warrior often carried his lead shot
in a bandolier bag worn in a similar fashion. The
cartridge box and bandolier bag both had the same
function, yet the decoration associated with each
was a reflection of the wearer's own society.

Bandolier bag.

(Image courtesy of the
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

Seminole Leadership

The Seminole concept of leadership was not well
understood by most Americans of the time, nor is it
today. Although many an Indian leader was referred to
as "Chief," very few were actually considered chiefs,
or "headmen," by their own people. Most were simply
outstanding men who filled leadership positions, much like
any military officer or elected politician in white society.

Tribal leadership, although hereditary, was unlike the
European system most Americans are familiar with, in
that the position of head chief did not automatically pass
from father to eldest son. Leadership remained within
one clan, which traced its lineage through the female
side. A warrior would traditionally marry outside his own
^ clan and any children were considered members of
^. his wife's clan, so a chiefs son was usually eliminated
I from contention when a new chief was chosen. Instead,
t the Tribal Council would choose the most qualified
I man from among the former chiefs nephews, cousins,
[ or brothers. It was a more democratic system than
t European monarchies, and the real power often resided
I more in the council than in the man they elected. It was
: also a system that allowed for the replacement of a

It is often said that history is written by the victors,
and in the case of the Seminole Wars this is certainly
true. The vast majority of the information we have
about the Seminole Wars is derived from U.S. military
records and personal correspondence of whites who either
lived or served in Florida during the conflicts. For that
reason any account of the wars has difficulty in presenting
both sides in a balanced manner. Because the Seminole
language is not written, we have very little record of what
the Seminole were doing and how they were living, other
than from a few well-excavated archaeological sites and
tribal oral tradition. Indeed, even the eloquent speeches of
Seminole leaders that have been passed down to us were
originally recorded by white translators.

As in most military histories, the tale of the
Seminole Wars can seem like nothing more than a
sequence of attacks by either side on the other. Yet
during the entire time of the wars, the Seminole
were making a living in their homelands, conducting

Micanopy, head chief of the Seminole at the commencement of the
Second Seminole War.

(Portrait courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

leader who was not suited to the task. A man chosen for
skills useful in peacetime might not be the sort of man
needed in time of war.

inced QtovY

their annual ceremonies, and continuing their way
of life. The Seminole families remaining in Florida
remember the wars and the nightmare it inflicted
on their people, and this human story should not be
lost in the list of commanders, engagements, and
fort sites. The historical documents can make the
Seminole experience seem passive to the whims of
the U.S. Government and masks the real human story
of resistance. Part of this imbalance is due to the fact
that much of the action was instigated by government
officers who came and went under orders from
their superiors in Washington. Yet it is important to
remember that it was often the Seminole who chose
where and when to react to a very real threat to their
homes and their way of life.

- Dr. Paul Backhouse
Director of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum
and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer

Calhoun County
Blountstown

ffi Blunt Reservation Marker

SR20, on the grounds of the Old County Courthouse,
between Cayson and Rauson Streets

Marks the western boundary of a reservation set
aside by the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and given to
John Blunt (Blount) one of the six principal chiefs
of the Florida Indians.

ffi Cochrane town Marker

SR20, on the grounds of the Old County Courthouse,
between Cayson and Rauson Streets

Site of a settlement of refugee Creek Indians founded
in 1815 after the residents were forced out of Alabama
during the Creek Civil War of 1813-1814. The reverse
side of the marker is written in Muskogee.

Dixie County
Horseshoe Beach

ffi Jackson Trail Marker

Wayside Park, CR351, 16.5 miles south of Cross City
Marker along the route taken by Andrew Jackson's army
toward Old Town during the First Seminole War.

HE JACK'SON TRAIL

On December 26, 1817, U.y. Secretary
directed General Andrew Jackson to-'pr
settle in Florida. Jackson arrived in Flo
ever to Invade the state to date -2.000 C

of War John C. Calhoun
;ect citizens trying to
da with the largest army
eek Warriors and l.OOO

Georgia and Tennessee tftilitiamen. After leaving Nashville.
Tennessee, they traveled through Georgia and on to Florida,
winding up in Suwannee-Old Town Cnow Dixie County). Jackson's
goal was to remove the Indians,' destroy their homes and confiscate
their horses, cattle and food and slaves. In four days he had killed
or driven off all Indians and escaped slaves. Near this spot, in
April 1818. while on a "seek and find" mission, Jackson and his
army captured Indian traders Robert Armbrister and Alexander
Arbuthnot. They were British subjects who were supposed to be
protected by a truce between England and the United States.
Jackson had Arbuthnot hanged and Armbrister shot, which almost
caused a war between the two countries. The Jackson Trail ran
alongside Highway 19, branching south to the Coast on the west
side of what is now the Horseshoe Beach Road (Highway 351).

Old Town

ffi Suwannee Old Town Marker

Intersection of CR55 &: SR349

A major Seminole and Black settlement and site of an
important battle during the First Seminole War.

^Markers erected under the Florida Historical Marker Program.

Escambia County
Pensacola

After capturing the Spanish fort at St. Marks and
forcing the Seminole to flee south of the Suwannee
River during the First Seminole War, Andrew Jackson
turned his attention to Pensacola, the Spanish capital
of West Florida. Leaving St. Marks on April 30, 1818,
his army marched through the wilderness, arriving
at Pensacola on May 23. Spanish forces abandoned
the city and took up position at Fort Barrancas as
Jackson approached. After a short siege, the Spanish
surrendered Barrancas on May 28, 1818.

Fort Barrancas

Pensacola Naval Air Station, Gulf Islands National Seashore,

just east of the Naval Aviation Museum.

850.934,2600

nps.gov/guis

One of four forts eventually built to protect the entrance
to Pensacola Bay and the U.S. Navy Yard.

Fort Barrancas.

Historic Pensacola Village

205 E. Zaragoza Street
850,595.5993

historicpensacola.org

Tour several buildings from the Seminole War period
and the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum.

Quina House Museum, built ca. 1810, Historic Pensacola Village.

Warriors from Bondage.

(Artist Jackson Walker, image courtesy of the artist)

The Attack on the "Negro Fort"

For much of the American South, the Apalachicola
River was both a promise and a threat. For farmers and

plantation owners in western Georgia, the river was
the most direct route for their produce to reach market.
Unfortunately, it ran through an area owned by Spain and
populated by unfriendly Seminole Indians.

During the War of 1812, the Apalachicola threatened
to become an avenue for a possible invasion of the
Southern states. The British military came to the Florida
panhandle seeking alliances with Indians and runaway
slaves. To help control and protect the river, they built a
large fort at Prospect Bluff, about 25 miles north or the
river's mouth. At war's end the British stocked it with
arms and ammunition and turned it over to the Indians
and fugitive slaves, who saw it as a refuge against
slave catchers.

Southern slave holders saw it differently. Calling it the
"Negro Fort," they viewed it as a beacon for runaways
and a starting point for a slave rebellion. Spain was too
weak to do anything about the situation, so President
Madison turned to Major General Andrew Jackson, who
ordered a combined land and naval assault on the fort.
On July 27, 1816, two navy gunboats joined hundreds
of soldiers and Indian allies in the attack. A red-hot
cannonball fired from one of the gunboats struck the
fort's powder magazine, causing a massive explosion
that leveled the structure and instantly killed hundreds
of the fort's occupants. Although the expedition had
been more about capturing slaves than fighting Indians,
it paved the way for the violence that culminated in the
First Seminole War.

Franklin County

Fort Gadsden (Negro Fort)

From US98 east of Apalachicola, drive 20 miles north on
SR65 to Brickyard Road, then 3 miles on unpaved road to
fort site; Apalachicola National Forest.
850,643.2282

fs.usda.gov/main/apalachicola

Remains of the earthen walls of the fort are still
visible, and an interpretative kiosk gives details of
its history (see article, this page). During the First
Seminole War, Fort Gadsden was erected on the
site of the destroyed "Negro Fort." Also at the site
is a marker for Milly Francis fn? a Creek Indian girl
who saved a captured U.S. soldier from execution in
Pocahontas-like fashion.

Infantry (left) and artillery (right) buttons found at Fort Gadsden.

(Image courtesy of the Florida Division of Historical Resources)

Indians attacking Lieutenant Scott's party, by William Croome.

The Scott Massacre

As tensions grew along the southern frontier in 1817,
the army erected Fort Scott on the Flint River, several
miles above the Florida line. On November 21 & 22
General Edmund Gaines ordered an attack on the nearby
Indian village of Fowltown, forcing the Indians to flee their
village and take refuge in Florida.

A week later, on November 30, a small army supply
vessel under the command of Lieutenant Richard Scott
was ascending the Apalachicola, headed for Fort Scott.
Aboard were about 40 soldiers, of which half were
invalids in need of medical care, seven soldiers' wives,
and several children. Progress was slow, with the men
using oars or throwing anchors ahead of the vessel to pull
against the strong current.

A mile below the Georgia line there was a bend in the
river, and the current forced the boat toward the riverbank.
Hiding in the foliage were hundreds of Seminole, Mikasuki,
and Creek warriors, waiting for the opportunity to take
revenge for the attack on Fowltown. As the boat drew near
they rose from their concealment and opened fire, instantly
killing most of the able-bodied men on board. When the
vessel drifted ashore the Indians rushed aboard to face
those who were still on board. Only six soldiers managed
to swim to safety on the opposite bank. All of the women
and children were slain, with the exception of one woman,
Elizabeth Stuart, who was taken prisoner, but rescued
several months later. The Florida Indians and the Americans
had been approaching war. Now there was no turning back.

• Gadsden County

Chattahoochee

Apalachicola Arsenal

At the eastern end of the Florida State Hospital, North
Main Street & Pecan Lane, 0.3 miles west of Jinks
Crossing Road.
850.663.7001

The powder magazine was originally part of a federal
arsenal built in 1834 and used to store weapons and
ammunition during the Second Seminole War and the
Civil War. The building has recently been renovated as
a conference center and future museum. Also nearby
are the restored officers' quarters (now the hospital
administration building) and several markers. Limited
entrance, by appointment only.

Powder Magazine, Apalachicola Arsenal.

Scott Massacre Site

At the end of River Landing Road, 0.3 miles east of
Apalachicola River bridge, off US90.

The site of a surprise attack on an army transport that
left about 40 soldiers, women, and children dead, the
location is now a county park and public boat ramp
(see article, this page). A marker and interpretive
signage is planned. The site is also the location of a
British fort used during the War of 1812.

Gulf County
Wewahitchka

fiFort Place Marker

Four miles south of town on SR71.

Site of a fort erected in the early 1830s for protection
against the Indians.

"We suffered very much during this march from
the scarcity of water, every part of the ground being
parched by the excessively hot sun. Our only mode
of procuring it on many occasions was to dig holes
in the ground, it being generally found at a depth
of one or two feet from the surface, but with the
colour and consistence of ink. We had to drink this
or go without!'

- Dr. Jacob R. Matte

^ISprtfmest ^^egion

Jackson County
Marianna

^Andrew Jackson in Florida Marker

Florida Caverns State Park, 3345 Caverns Road,
near boat launch.

Marker along the route taken by Andrew Jackson s army
toward Pensacola during the First Seminole War.

Richard Keith Call

and the Battle of Wahoo Swamp

The most prominent civilian figure in Florida during
the Second Seminole War was Richard Keith Call. He
began the war as a brigadier general in the Territorial
Militia and led the Florida Volunteers at the Battle of
the Withlacoochee. A close friend of Andrew Jackson
from his service in the First Seminole War, Call was
appointed Territorial Governor in March 1836. Three
months later President Jackson put Call in charge of
the war.

Call conducted a large-scale campaign to drive
the Seminole from the Cove of the Withlacoochee in
the autumn of 1836. A combined force of over 2,000
volunteers and regulars pursued and engaged the
Indians several times and destroyed a number of
their villages. The final battle took place in an area
known as the Wahoo Swamp, on November 21,
where American troops and Seminole warriors faced
_ off across a narrow stream that passed through the

- swamp. Facing fierce opposition and unsure of the
water's depth. Call and his officers decided not to

- cross the stream and pursue the retreating Indians,
w Citing the seemingly impassable terrain and lack

i of supplies. Call did not continue the pursuit the
: following day.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

Jacob Road (CR162), just west of Chipola River.

Site of the Battle of Upper Chipola during the First
Seminole War, in which Creek Indians serving for
the U.S. attacked rival Creeks living in Florida. An
interpretive panel at the trailhead discusses the battle.

Leon County
Tallahassee

The Grove (Call/Collins House)

100 E. 1st Avenue
850.245.6669

thegrovefl.com

The home of Richard Keith Call (see article, this
page). Territorial Governor during most of the Second
Seminole War and commander of the November 1836
campaign that culminated in the Battle of Wahoo Swamp.

Although Call had forced the Indians from their homes
in the Cove, his decision not to pursue and capture the
fleeing natives caused a falling-out between him and
Jackson. He was replaced as governor in December
1839, but was reappointed to the position in 1841 when
iam Henry Harrison became president.

- >Arf/c/e by Hdirry Pickering

Governor Richard Keith Call.

(Image courtesy of the Collection of the Museum of Florida History)

^ISgrtftwest ^^egion

Historic Capitol Museum
and the Parkhill Monument

Old Capitol Building, 400 Monroe Street
850.487.1902

flhistoriccapitol.gov

Contains exhibits that include material on the Seminole
Wars. A monument to Captain John Parkhill of the
Leon County Volunteers, the last officer to be slain in
the Seminole Wars, is in front of the building.

Historic Capitol IVIuseum and Captain Jolin Parkliill IVIonument.

ffiMiccosukee Village Marker

SR59, just south of SR142/151, 20 miles northeast of
Tallahassee.

Site of a major Seminole village attacked by General
Andrew Jackson s army during the First Seminole
War. Hundreds of homes were burnt and crops and
livestock destroyed.

Museum of Florida History

R. A. Gray Building, 500 S. Bronough Street
850.245.6400

museumoffloridahistory.com

View exhibits on the Seminole Wars and Florida's Native
American history at the State s official cultural history
museum. For those who wish to delve deeper, the State
Library and Archives is housed in the same building,
featuring collections of historic photos, treaties, maps,
and other documents.

IVIuseum of Florida History.

(Image courtesy of the Museum of Florida History)

Santa Rosa County

Santa Rosa Island

Fort Pickens

1400 Fort Pickens Road, Pensacola Beach
850.934.2635

nps.gov/guis

Completed just prior to the outbreak of the Second
Seminole War, Fort Pickens is an excellent example of
coastal fortifications in the Seminole War period and
was a place where Seminole were sometimes detained
orior to being sent west to Oklahoma.

Fort Pickens.

• Taylor County

Cross City

Falls of the Steinhatchee

Entrance to Falls Road is on SR51, 1.8 miles west of
US 19, 17 miles north of town. Suwannee River Water
Management District.
386.362.1001

srwmd.state.fl.us

The rock ledge provides a natural ford for the
Steinhatchee River that had been used by Native
Americans for thousands of years. General Andrew
Jackson s army crossed here in 1818, as did many forces
in the Second Seminole War.

Falls of the Steinhatchee.

Perry

Econfina River State Park

CR14, 6 miles south of US98, 20 miles west of town.
850,922.6007

floridastateparks.org/park/Econfina-River
On April 12, 1818, advance forces of General Andre v^
Jackson's army fought a battle near here v^ith Red
Stick Creek Indians led by Peter McQueen. About 40
v^arriors v^ere killed and 100 people taken prisoner. The
exact location of the battle is unknov^n, but the river
can be view^ed at the park or from a small boat ramp at
the US98 bridge.

Wakulla County
St. Marks

San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park

148 Old Fort Road
850,925.6216

floridastateparks.org/park/San-Marcos
During the First Seminole War, General Andrew
Jackson captured the Spanish fort at St. Marks, a clear
violation of his orders not to molest the Spaniards (see
article, this page). The fort ruins are no^N a State Park,
and a small museum highlights the history of the fort.
Also at the site is a stone monument for Milly Francis.

Fort ruins, San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park.

(Image courtesy of Florida State Parks)

"From moon to moon we thought the soldiers
would retire, but they continued their destruction
as fast as we could plant There was no alternative
left hut to improve the first opportunity to surrender

- Neathlock Emathla

The trail of British subject Robert Armbrister at St. Marks, 1818.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, floridamemorycom/items/show/30745)

Foreign Intrigue at St. Marks

General Andrew Jackson's invasion of Spanish Florida
in 1818 was authorized by President Monroe, but his
orders were to punish the Indians and to not molest the
Spaniards. Yet by the time Jackson left Florida he had
managed to antagonize both the Spanish and the British.

After destroying the Seminole villages around Lake
Miccosukee, Jackson turned his army south toward
the Spanish post at St. Marks. Jackson seized the fort,
claiming the Spaniards were supplying the Indians with
weapons. Found at the fort was Alexander Arbuthnot,
a 70-year-old Bahamian trader who had written several
letters in support of the Seminole.

Jackson's army then advanced to the Suwannee River,
where a Bahamian soldier of fortune and former Royal
Marine officer, Robert Ambrister, was taken prisoner when
he mistakenly entered the American camp. When the army
returned to St. Marks, Ambrister and Arbuthnot were put
on trial for aiding the enemy and inciting warfare against
Americans. Both men were found guilty, and Arbuthnot
was hanged from the yardarm of his own ship. Ambrister
received mercy from the court, but Jackson overruled them
and ordered the prisoner to face a firing squad.

Both Spain and England were enraged. The capture
of a Spanish post could be considered an act of war, and
the execution of British subjects by a military tribunal on
^ neutral territory raised serious legal questions. Intense
diplomacy took place and Congressional investigations
were carried out. In the end, Spain was too weak and
England too interested in commerce with America to
retaliate. As for Congress and the American people,
Jackson had done what most of them wanted and was
hailed as a hero.

^l^prtfieast ^^egion

Alachua County
Alachua

mNewnansville Marker

1.6 miles north of
Alachua on CR235,
across from the
cemetery.

Site of a town
named in honor
of Colonel
Daniel Newnan
of the Georgia
Volunteers, who
fought in the
Patriot War (see
article, page 26),
The original

county seat of Alachua County, it was a place where
many refugees from the Second Seminole War
sought shelter.

San Felasco Hammock Preserve

11101 Millhopper Road; 13201 Progress Boulevard
386.462.7905

floridastateparks.org/ park/ San-Felasco-Hammock
On September 18, 1836, a large party of Seminole
attacked about 100 Florida Militia troops at this site.
After about an hour of heavy fighting with losses on
both sides, the Indians withdrew.
The preserve has trails and informational kiosks. Foot
trails are at the south entrance on Millhopper Road,
while horse and bike trials are at the north entrance on
Progress Boulevard.

EWNANSVILLE

TOWN SITE

c end cf 182-4. Alachua County was organized as a pc, :
f the new Territory of Florida. The Sertlnole inhabitar
achua region had fecently been ordered to a reser . v

. derive

fflce was established in this area called •Dells P.
1 Its name from ■ the Dell brothers, who had first .
achua region dliring the Patriot War U8I2-14) and had

riclally made the .^lacnua County seat and naroed^^Newnar -
er of a Patriot War hero. Daniel Newnan. Sewnansvllle bt;
ncilon of several important trails through frontier Flc--

authorlzed by Congress In 18Z4 as the first federal roac -
ew territory. During the Second Seminole War C183?

Gainesville

Florida Museum of Natural History

3215 Hull Road,
on the University
of Florida
campus
352,846.2000
flmnh.ufl.edu

The South

Florida Indian

Peoples exhibit

ofl^'ers insight

into Seminole

culture and

history, and

also allows the

visitor to better

understand the

environment

the wars were

fought in.

Seminole cultural exhibit, Florida Museum
of Natural History/University of Florida.

(Image courtesy of the Florida Museum of Natural History/
University of Florida)

mFort Clarke Marker

West of 1-75 at SR26 and NW 91st Street. In front of the
Greater Fort Clarke Missionary Baptist Church.

Site of a minor post from the Second Seminole War.

"The land we occupy, we expect will be considered
our own property to remain as such for ever, unless
we may think proper to part with it!'

- Tukose Emathla (John Hicks)

San Felasco Hammock Preserve.

Seminole cowhand Big Charlie Osceola at the Brighton Indian Reservation, 1949.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, floridamemory.com/items/show/245561)

Seminole Cattle Ranching:
A Source of Pride and Trouble

The Native Americans who inhabited Florida after
Hernando de Soto and other explorers came through in
the sixteenth century became very adept at using Spanish

cattle as a means of support and prestige. As early as the
1670s the Spanish ranchero at La Chua used "Seminoles"
as "vaqueros" to herd cattle. By the time naturalist William
Bartram passed through Central Florida (Gainesville area)
in 1774, the Seminole leader Cowkeeper had amassed a
sizable herd of over 10,000 head.

The prosperity of the Seminole cattle industry aroused
envy in the settlers, who wanted the cattle and the land
upon which they grazed. The frequent skirmishes between
white settlers and Seminole often revolved around cattle
rustling between the two groups and was one of the
major contributing factors to the outbreak of the Second
Seminole War in 1835. One of the stipulations in the Treaty
of Payne's Landing in 1832 was the requirement that cattle
be turned over to the Indian Agent for resale to whites.
As the 1835 deadline approached, the Seminole became
more reluctant to surrender their cattle and other livestock
to the Indian Agents. As hunting opportunities declined and
game disappeared because of settlement, cattle became
the major source of protein for the Indians. It was an
important resource they would not give up without a fight.

After the wars, Florida's Seminole retained few cattle,
but were able to maintain their husbandry skills by
working for white cattle ranchers. Thanks to government
programs in the 1930s, Seminole-owned ranches were
re-established, and today the Seminole Tribe is one of the
nation's top ten cattle producers.

-Article by Dr. Joe Knetsch

Micanopy

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park

100 Savannah Boulevard
352.466.3397

floridastateparks.org/park/Paynes-Prairie
Originally known as the Alachua Prairie, this prime
grazing land was home to many Seminole and was
coveted by white ranchers (see article, above). Because
of its importance to both sides, the area around the
prairie was scene to some of the bloodiest fighting in
the Second Seminole War. The Visitor Center has a
good exhibit on the Seminole Wars.

"I have been hunted like a wolf, and now I am
to be sent away like a dog"

- Halleck Tustennuggee

Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park Visitor Center .

^]\prtlteast ^^egion

ftRochelle (Newnan's Battle) Marker

6.8 miles north of Micanopy at intersection of CR234
and CR2082

Site of a major
battle during the
Patriot War (see
article, page 26)
in which Georgia
Volunteers
led by Colonel
Daniel Newnan
attempted
to drive the
Seminole from
the Alachua
Prairie. King

Payne, leader of the Seminole, received mortal wounds
in the battle.

Town of Micanopy and
Historical Society Museum

607 NE Cholokka Boulevard
352.466.3200

micanopyhistoricalsociety.com

Named after the primary Seminole chief during the
Second Seminole War (see page 13) and site of Forts
Micanopy and Defiance, the town preserves much of
its historical flavor. The Historical Society Museum
has an excellent exhibit on the wars and the Seminole
who lived in the area. A small park east of town on
Tuscawilla Road across from the Tuscawilla Preserve
is the sight of a major battle fought on June 9, 1836,
between about 250 warriors led by Osceola and the
soldiers of Fort Defiance. The Seminole withdrew "after
about an hour and twenty minutes' hard fighting under
a broiling sun."

Baker County
Macclenny

Burnsed Blockhouse

Heritage Park Village, 102 S. Lowder Street
904.259.7275

heritagepark.cityofmacclenny.com
The preserved
blockhouse,
built during the
Seminole War
period, is the
last remaining
example of
the type of
architecture
used by settlers
in areas subject to Indian raids.

Clay County
Middleburg

ffiFort Heilman Marker

Blanding Boulevard near Scenic Drive
Site of a major supply depot during the Second
Seminole War. The site was chosen because nearby
Black Creek was deep enough to accommodate ships
bringing war supplies from the northern states.

• Columbia County •

Lake City

f& Chief Alligator
(Halpatter Tustennuggee) Marker

Downtown Courtyard, SR47 near US90
The town of Lake City was originally known as
"Alligator" named after one of the most respected
Indian leaders of the Second Seminole War. A man
of both peace and war, he took part in the negotiations
of February 1837, and was one of the principal leaders at
the Battles of Okeechobee and the Withlacoochee. He
surrendered in April 1838, but returned from the West
late in the war to aid in negotiations to end the conflict.

Micanopy Historical Society Museum.

Duval County
Jacksonville

Seminole War Blockhouse Marker

Corner of Ocean (USl) & Monroe

Site of a Second Seminole War era blockhouse and fort
used for protection against Indian attacks.

Flagler County
Flagler Beach

Bulow Plantation State Park

3501 Old Kings Road
386.517.2084

floridastateparks.org/park/Bulow-Plantation
These burned-out ruins are the remains of one of Florida's
largest sugar plantations, destroyed by the Seminole early
in the Second Seminole War (see article^ this page).

Bulow Plantation Ruins.

Palm Coast

Mala Compra Plantation

Bing's Landing Boat Ramp and Park, SRAIA, 2.8 miles
north of Palm Coast Bridge

This was the home of Joseph M. Hernandez, first
delegate to Congress from the Florida Territory and
a brigadier general in the Florida Militia during the
Second Seminole War. Under orders from General
Jesup, Hernandez took famed Seminole leader Osceola
prisoner in October 1837. The plantation house and
other buildings were destroyed by Seminole raiders
early in the war. Remnants of Hernandez' home can
be seen at a preserved archaeological dig within the
park. A marker !H outside the park tells the history.
Nearby Washington Oaks Gardens State Park was also a
Hernandez property.

Mala Compra Plantation Archaeological Site.

Dummett Plantation Ruins {see page 33).

Sugar: An Industry Destroyed By War

In 1835 the Florida economy was fueled by sugar.
Before tourism took off or citrus began to flourish, sugar
was the Territory's largest industry. Cultivation and
processing required the labor of thousands of slaves,
who made up nearly half of Florida's population. Most
plantations were along the east coast in the area south
of St. Augustine and owned by some of the area's

. leading citizens. Yet within a few weeks of the Second
Seminole War's commencement, virtually every one of
those plantations had been destroyed or abandoned and

' hundreds of slaves set free. The Seminole, forced to war,
were not only attacking troops and isolated homesteads,
they were waging economic warfare.

General Joseph Hernandez, commanding the Florida
Militia in East Florida, ordered Major Benjamin A. Putnam
southward from St. Augustine to meet the threat and stop
the destruction of valuable property. While on the march,
Putnam received word of numerous plantations being
burned and looted, including the Rees plantation at Spring
Garden (page 32), one of the most prosperous. Putnam's
command proceeded from Hernandez's Mala Compra
Plantation toward Bulow's Plantation. Word reached him
of a force of Seminole near Dunlawton, where some of
the out-buildings had been torched. A skirmish with two
scouts led to a larger engagement which ended with the
retreat of Putnam's force. The entire east coast was now
without protection and open to depredation. In very short
order, the most vulnerable and prosperous plantations
were destroyed and burned. The sugar industry had
taken decades to build and would not thrive again until
the 20th century.

- Article by John Missall and Dr. Joe Knetsch

Gilchrist County

Fanning Springs

Fort Fanning Historical Park

9930 Kentucky Avenue, just east of the Suwannee River
bridge. Across the street is Fanning Springs State Park.

Site of a fort built in 1838 to guard the Suwannee
River crossing. On the opposite side of the river were
Seminole and Black villages destroyed during the First
Seminole War.

Fort Fanning Historical Park.

• Madison County

IVIadison

Blockhouse Marker

Four Freedoms Park, US90 and Range Street

Site of a Second Seminole War era blockhouse used to
protect the towns inhabitants.

fnjohn Hicks,
Hickstown Marker

5 miles west of town
on US90

Site of the village
of Chief Tukose
Emathla (John
Hicks) the primary
Seminole leader in
the period between
the First and Second
Seminole Wars.

Tukose Ematlila (Jolin Hicks).

"Here our navel strings were first cut and the

blood from them sunk into the earth, and made the

country dear to us? ^ , , , ,

- Tukose Emathla (John Hicks)

• Putnam County •

Palatka

In Fort Shannon Marker

US17/92 and 2nd Street, in front of School Board office.

Site of a major Second Seminole War fort used to
protect the surrounding settlement and warehouses.

m Palatka Marker

US17/92 and 11th Street, in front of Police Station.

The town was located at a major port on the St. Johns
River where ocean-going vessels off-loaded supplies and
troops for the interior.

Putnam County Historical Society Museum

100 Madison Street
386.325.9825

The building is an officer s quarters from Fort Shannon,
a major post during the Second Seminole War.

St* Johns County
St. Augustine

Already a military town due to the presence of Fort
Marion and St. Francis Barracks, St. Augustine played
an important part during the Seminole Wars.
The city was also a resort where soldiers came for rest
and relaxation.

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

1 S. Castillo Drive
904.829.6506

nps.gov

Known as Fort Marion during the Seminole Wars, the
fort was used as a detention center for Seminole prisoners
awaiting transport to the West (see article, next page).

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, St. Augustine.

(Image courtesy of the National Park Service)

St. Augustine

Fort Mose Historic State Park

15 Fort Mose Trail
904,823.2232

floridastateparks.org/park/Fort-Mose
A fortification built during the Spanish period as part
of a settlement of runaway slaves from the English
colonies, the abandoned site of Fort Mose was occupied
by American forces in 1812 during the "Patriot War"
(see article, page 26).

Coacoochee and the
Escape from St. Augustine

One of the most famous leaders from the Second
Seminole War was Coacoochee (co-ah'-co-chee),
often referred to as Wildcat. When his father, King
Phillip, was captured, Coacoochee attempted to
parley with General Jesup but was taken prisoner
and confined at Ft. IVIarion in St. Augustine. He was
soon joined by Osceola, also taken into custody while
carrying a flag of truce.

Coacoochee, along with the black leader John
Cavallo and others, began to plan an escape. While
there are conflicting reports as to precisely what
occurred, Coacoochee's own account is the most
widely related. He and his companions carefully
chipped away at the cement holding in place one of
the bars across a loophole in the wall of the storeroom
that served as their prison. On the night of November
29, 1837, using a rope made of blankets, 20
Seminole (including two women) worked their bodies
through the narrow eight-inch opening and lowered
themselves to the ground. Unseen by sentries, they
slipped into the woods and made their escape. Phillip
and Osceola, too ill and frail to accompany them,
remained behind.

Heading south, Coacoochee and his followers soon
met up with their kinsmen. Less than a month later he
would be one of the primary leaders at the Battle of
Okeechobee. After the capture and death of Osceola,
Coacoochee became a principal war leader and one
of the men most sought by the army. He surrendered
in 1841 and assisted in convincing many of his
followers to turn themselves in. He and Cavallo later
led their followers to Mexico, where Coacoochee died
of smallpox in 1857.

Fort Peyton Marker

(Difficult to find). Take Wildwood Drive 2 miles from
SR207, turn right on Cheyenne Drive (1 mile south of
Treaty Park), go 0.3 mile to second Winterhawk Drive.
Turn right, go 0.3 mile to dirt alleyway just past second
Arrowhead Drive. Park at end of alleyway and walk
approximately 750 feet to marker. Path is not well-
maintained.

A fort guarding the southern approaches to St. Augustine,
it was near the site where Osceola was captured.

Drawing of Seminole cliief, Coacoocliee (Wild Cat), ca. 1836-1842.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, floridamemory.com/items/show/25534)

"The whites are too strong for us; they make
powder, we cannot I could live like a wolf, but our
women and children suffered when driven from
swamp to swamp"

- Coacoochee (Wild Cat)

t The Patriot War of 1812

The Seminole of Florida fought U.S. troops for the first
time while Florida was still under Spanish rule. Hostilities
broke out in 1812 when a former Georgia governor,
George Mathews, organized a group called the Patriots
and sent them into Florida to overthrow the Spanish
colonial government. In March 1812 they captured the
town of Fernandina and called for U.S. military support.

Although the administration of President James
Madison disavowed this action, U.S. forces had already
occupied Fernandina and moved south towards St.
, Augustine. Then, in June 1812, the United States
? declared war on Britain, starting the War of 1812.

American officials were reluctant to withdraw forces
I from Florida, afraid that both Spain and Britain would
I retaliate with a strike against Georgia. American forces
» established bases at Goodby's Lake, Julington Creek,
i Fort Picolata, and Fort Mose, trying to isolate the Spanish
f garrison in St. Augustine.

\ Seeing the American occupation as a threat to their
[ own territory, the Seminole Indians of Alachua allied
I with the Spanish forces. Both the Seminole and the free
t Spanish black militia of St. Augustine proved crucial to
J the Spanish defense of Florida. During the summer of
M812 Seminole warriors, moving quickly on horseback,
; struck behind the American lines, ambushing couriers and
harassing American encampments. Then, in September

1812, the black militia
severed American supply^
lines to the St. Johns
River and forced U.S.
troops to retreat from
Fort Mose.

The war broadened
into Seminole territory
when Colonel Daniel
Newnan and the
Georgia volunteers set
out to destroy Payne's
Town, the principal
Seminole settlement
in Alachua. A war party
under the Indian headmen
Payne and Bowlegs
intercepted them and
forced the Georgians to

retreat, but not before Payne received a mortal wound
{see marker, page 22). Subsequently, in 1813, a larger
expedition of U.S. regulars attacked and burned Payne's
Town. It was the beginning of over 40 years of hostility
between the Seminole people and the U.S. military.

-Article by Dr James Cusick

U.S. Army infantry officer's coatee.

(Image courtesy of the Collection of the
Museum of Florida History)

St. Augustine

St* Francis Barracks & Cemetery

82 Marine Street

Originally a Franciscan monastery from the
Spanish period, by the time of the Seminole Wars
the building had been converted into an army
barracks. In the Second Seminole War it was
often headquarters for the commanding officer,
especially during the summer, when interior posts
were abandoned due to unhealthy conditions. Just
to the south of the barracks is a small National
Military Cemetery where a number of soldiers from
the Second Seminole War are buried in individual
graves. At the south end of the cemetery are three stone
pyramids under which the remains of hundreds of
fatalities from the war are interred, brought here at the
end of the conflict. In front of the pyramids is an obelisk
commemorating the dead of the war (see article^ page 10),
There is also a marker commemorating West Point

graduates slain in the war. The barracks now serve as
Headquarters for the Florida National Guard and are
closed to the public. The cemetery is open to the public.

St. Francis Barracks.

^]\Jprtfteast ^^egion

St. Augustine

Theatrical Troupe Massacre

From 1-95 St. Augustine exit 318 (SR16),
an immediate left onto CR208, then go 1

Site of an attack
by Coacoochee
on itinerant
actors heading
to St. Augustine
from the port of
Picolata on the St.
Johns River.

Marker

go west and take
,2 miles.

m Treaty Park Marker

1595 Wildwood Drive, 1 mile south of SR207. Marker is
near playground and tennis courts.

Site of the signing of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in
1823. The site was selected because Moultrie Creek was
a waterway commonly used by the Seminole to travel to
and from the interior of the Territory.

"You have guns, and so have we— you have
powder and lead, and so have we— your men
will fight, and so will ours, till the last drop of the
Seminole's blood has moistened the dust of his
hunting ground:'

Osceola

Although not a Florida native by birth nor a member of
the ruling clan, Osceola became one of the Seminole's
most outspoken and recognized leaders. His mother
was a mixed-blood Creek who lived in Alabama. Some
accounts insist his father was an Indian, while others
claim his mother was married to William Powell, an
English trader. As an adult he was commonly called
Powell, but his Indian name was Asi-Yaholo, which
would be corrupted to Osceola. He was later given the
title Tallassee Tustennuggee in acknowledgement of his
leadership capabilities.

Along with his mother, the young Osceola was driven
to Florida after his people's defeat in the Creek Civil War
(1813-14). During the First Seminole War, the boy was
captured but later released.
Osceola's bold defiance to the Treaty of Payne's
I Landing attracted public attention and compelled other
k- Seminole to oppose government policy. After an angry
1 exchange with Indian Agent Wiley Thompson in the
1 summer of 1835, Osceola was briefly imprisoned and
\ swore revenge against the agent. On December 28,
1. 1835, he took his revenge, assassinating Thompson
t outside Fort King.

t On October 21,1 837, Osceola was seized while
I negotiating under a flag of truce. Imprisoned initially
r at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, he was transferred to
► Charleston after the escape of Coacoochee and his
followers. Suffering from malaria when captured, Osceola
; died at Fort Moultrie on January 30, 1838, and was

buried with military honors. His bravery and cunning in
battle, along with his dishonorable capture and subsequent
death in captivity, served to make Osceola a martyr for the
Seminole cause.

Osceola portrait by George Catlin, ca. 1837.

Northwest Region

1: Pensacola Area

• Fort Barrancas

• Historic Pensacola Village
2: Fort Pickens

3: Marianna Area

•Andrew Jackson in Florida (Marker)

•Battle of Chipola
4: Chattahoochee Area

•Apalachicola Arsenal

• Scott Massacre Site
5: Bountstown (2 Markers)
6: Fort Place (Marker)

7: Fort Gadsden
8: Tallahassee Area

• The Grove (Call/Collins House)

• Historic Capitol, Parkhill Monument

• Miccosukee Village (Marker)

• Museum of Florida History

9: San Marcos de Apalache State Park

10: Econfina River State Park

11: Falls of the Steinhatchee

12: Jackson Trail (Marker)

13: Suwannee Old Town (Marker)

Northeast Region

1: Madison Area

• Blockhouse (Marker)

• John Hicks, Hickstown (Marker)
2: Chief Alligator (Marker)

3: Burnsed Blockhouse

4: Seminole War Blockhouse (Marker)

5: Fort Heilman (Marker)

6: St. Augustine Area

• Castillo de San Marcos

• Fort Mose Historic State Park

• Fort Peyton (Marker)

• St. Francis Barracks & Cemetery

• Theatre Troupe Massacre (Marker)

• Treaty Park (Marker)
7: Flagler Beach Area

• Bulow Plantation State Park

• Mala Compra Plantation
8: PalatkaArea

• Fort Shannon (Marker)

• Palatka (Marker)

• Putnam County Historical Society Museum
9: MicanopyArea

• Newnan's Battle (Marker)

• Paynes Prairie State Park

• Town of Micanopy
10: Gainesville Area

• Florida Museum of Natural History

• Fort Clarke (Marker)
11: Alachua Area

• Newnansville (Marker)

• San Felasco Hammock
12: Fort Fanning Historical Park

East Central Region

1: Dummett Plantation

2: Port Orange/New Smyrna Area

• Dunlawton Plantation

• New Smyrna Plantation

3: De Leon Springs State Park
4: Fort Butler and Volusia (Markers)
5: Fort Mason (Marker)
6: SanfordArea

• Fort Reid (Marker)

• Sanford Riverwalk Park
7: Geneva Area

• Fort Lane (Marker)

• King Phillip's Town (Marker)
8: Orlando Area

• Fort Gatlin (Marker)

• Fort Maitland (Marker)

• Orange County
Regional History Center

• Orlando Reeves (Marker)

9: Fort Christmas Historical Park
10: Haulover Canal/Fort Ann (Marker)
11: Hernandez Trail (Marker)

West Central Region

1: Cedar Key State Park
2: OcalaArea

• Fort King Historic Park

• Marion County Museum

• Silver River Museum
3: Camp Izard

4: Two Mile Preserve
5: Inverness Area

• Fort Cooper State Park

• Old Courthouse Heritage Museum
6: William Cooley (Marker)

7: Bushnell Area

• Battle of Wahoo Swamp (Marker)

• Dade Battlefield Historic State Park

• Fort Armstrong (Marker)

• Maj. David Moniac Headstone
8: BrooksvilleArea

• Charlotte Crum (Marker)

• Chocochatti (Marker)
9: Fort King Road (Marker)
10: Dade City Area

• Bradley Massacre (Marker)

• Christmas Day, 1835 (Marker)

• Fort Dade (Marker)

11: Lake Hamilton/Lake Alfred

• Chief Chipco (Marker)

• Fort Cummings (Marker)
12: Fort Gardiner (Marker)
13: Bartow Area

• Fort Blount (Marker)

• Fort Carroll (Marker)

• Fort Fraser Trail

• Polk County Historical Museum

14: Fort Meade Area

• Fort Meade (Marker)

• Willoughby Tillis Battle Monument
15: Fort Foster

16: Tampa Area

• Fort Brooke Cemetery (Marker)

• Fort Brooke

Officer's Quarters (Marker)

• Fort King Road
(Marker, Harney & Fowler)

• Fort King Trail (Marker, Ybor City)

• Oaklawn Cemetery (Marker)

• Tampa Bay History Center
17: Egmont Key State Park

Southeast Region

1: Fort Vinton (Marker)
2: Fort Pierce Area

• Fort Capron (Marker)

• Old Fort Pierce Park

• St. Lucie County
Regional History Center

3: Okeechobee Battlefield

Historic State Park
4: Jupiter Area

• Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
and Museum

• Loxahatchee Battlefield Park

• Military Trail (Marker)
5: Fort Lauderdale Area

• Cooley Massacre (Marker)

• First Fort Lauderdale (Marker)

• Fort Lauderdale
Historical Society Museum

• Indian Haulover
6: Davie Area

• Long Key Nature Center

• Maj. William Lauderdale Statue

• Tree Tops Park/Pine Island Ridge
7: Snake Warrior's Island Natural Area
8: Miami Area

• Fort Dallas

• HistoryMiami Museum

• Military Trail/Arch Creek (Marker)
9: Cape Florida State Park

10: Miccosukee Indian Village

and Museum
11: Indian Key State Park
12: Key West Military Memorial (Marker)

Southwest Region

1: Bradenton Area

• Braden Castle Ruins

• Gamble Mansion Historic State Park

• Manatee Historic Village

• South Florida Museum

2: Paynes Creek Historic State Park

3: Pioneer Park & Cracker Trail Museum

4: Fort Basinger (Marker)

5: Seminole Tribe Veteran's Center

6: Fort Center

7: Fort Ogden (Marker)

8: LabelleArea

• Fort Denaud (Marker)

• Fort Thompson (Marker)
9: Fort Myers Area

• Chief Billy Bowlegs (Marker)

• Fort Myers (Marker)

• Fort Myers Cemetery

• Military Cemetery (Marker)

• Southwest Florida Museum of History
10: Harney's Point (Marker)

11: Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum
12: Collier County Museum
13: Collier-Seminole State Park
14: Museum of the Everglades

Bradenti

Pierce

lami

Islamorada.

Key West i;^'^*'^^-

^ast Central ^^^egion

;2 Citizen Soldiers in the Seminole Wars

Throughout American history, the nation has often
relied upon citizen soldiers to supplement the standing
army. In the 19th century there was a strong belief in the
efficacy of these types of forces, and the regular army was
kept at minimal strength with the intention of calling up
state forces in an emergency. The Seminole Wars were
just such an emergency, and thousands of troops from
neighboring states were called upon to fight in Florida,
making up the majority of soldiers in some campaigns.
Also fighting for the United States were many Lower
Creek Indians, who considered the Seminole their enemy.

Although state forces often fought with enthusiasm,
there were a number of problems associated with their
use. Most volunteers lacked training, organization,
discipline, and equipment. The biggest problem was
a strong animosity that existed between volunteers
and regulars that often led to violence and a lack of
cooperation. Volunteers usually felt the regulars were
unsuited to the guerilla-style warfare needed to defeat
the Indians, while regulars believed the volunteers lacked
necessary military skills. There was a certain amount of
truth in both those beliefs.

Most such problems were alleviated by time. Regulars
adapted and learned to fight on the Indian's terms, while
volunteers learned discipline and gained battlefield
experience. State forces proved their worth in the Third
Seminole War, when a shortage of federal troops forced

Brevard County
Cocoa

fnHaulover Canal/Fort Ann Marker

SR3, near north entrance to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Site of a narrow strip of land used by Native Americans,
settlers, and soldiers to haul canoes and small boats
between Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. Fort Ann
was erected during the Second Seminole War to protect
the crossing.

Hernandez Trail Marker

USl at King Street

Near the path of a major north-south military
road used during the Seminole Wars. The road
was named in honor of Brigadier General Joseph
Hernandez of the Territorial Militia and Florida's first
Delegate to Congress.

Captain Winston Stepliens, Florida Volunteers, 3rd Seminole War.

(Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, floridamemory.com/items/show/138734)

most of the fighting upon the Florida Volunteers. It was
they who obtained the most victories and eventually
pressured many of the Seminole into surrendering.

Lake County
Astor

fnFort Butler Marker

0.2 mile west of St. Johns River Bridge on SR40

Fort erected during the Second Seminole War to protect
the road leading into the interior from the town of
Volusia on the opposite side of the river.

Umatilla

mFort Mason Marker

Larkin Park SR19

The fort was erected to protect the route from Volusia
on the St. Johns River to the areas of fighting near the
Withlacoochee River.

Y v V V ^ V V V'

^(35^ C^ntraf ^J^gion

• Orange County •

Christmas

Fort Christmas Historical Park

CR420, 1.9 miles north of SR50 (10 miles west of 1-95)
407.254,9310

This beautiful park features a reconstructed fort
containing a museum with a large Seminole War exhibit.
The site received its name when a column of General
Jesup s army stopped at this location and erected the
fort on Christmas Day, 1837. Also within the park are a
number of preserved pioneer settlement buildings.

Fort Chirstmas Historical Park.

Orlando

ffiFort Gatlin Marker

Summerlin Street near Gatlin Avenue
Site of Fort Gatlin. The settlement that grew around it
became the town of Orlando. An informational kiosk
accompanies the marker.

Fort Maitland Markers

US17/92 and Lake Lily Drive, Maitland
There are two markers. One is in Fort Maitland Park,
the other is a small stone monument at the entrance to
West Cove Condominium, just south of the park.

Orange County Regional History Center

65 E. Central Boulevard
407.836.8500

thehistorycenter.org

The museum has a large exhibit on Seminole War history
and the founding of Orlando from Fort Gatlin. The
museum is housed in the old Orange County Courthouse in
downtown Orlando.

Orlando Reeves Marker

Stone marker near the southeast corner of Lake Eola Park
There is no record of an Orlando Reeves having served
or died in the war, and the legend of the town s naming
may not be true.

Seminole County
Geneva

Fort Lane Marker

In a park at Lake Harney, 2400 Fort Lane Road (go 2.5
miles south of town on SR46, turn east onto Jungle Road,
then right on Fort Lane Road)

Fort erected during General Jesup s campaign of 1837
as a supply depot and to house troops patrolling the
area. Marker is at water s edge, by pavilion.

King Phillip's Town Marker

Northeast of town at the end of Osceola Fish Camp
Road, off Osceola Road, in parking area for Lake Harney
Wilderness Area

Site of a major Indian village occupied by Coacoochee
and his father. King Phillip. The nearby mound complex
is also a significant pre-contact archaeological site.

Sanford

Fort Reid Marker

Catalina Drive & Mellonville Avenue, in Speer Grove Park
Site of a fort occupied by a large force of Dragoons
(cavalry) during the 1840s.

Sanford Riverwalk Park

There are several informational displays and a stone
marker along the 1 mile walkway that follows the
shoreline of Lake Monroe

In the early morning hours of February 8, 1837, a
force of several hundred Seminole led by King Phillip
attacked a newly-erected supply depot on the south
shore of Lake Monroe. After a fierce fight lasting several
hours, the Indians were repulsed with the aid of a
cannon mounted on a steamboat anchored in the lake.
The army s only death was Captain Charles Mellon, and
a fort erected on the site was named in his honor.

Sanford Riverwalk Park.

(Image courtesy of Dr. Sam Smith)

(East Central (J^0ion

Marines battle the Seminole Indians at the Florida War, 1835-42.

(Image courtesy of the U.S. Marine Corps Museum)

The U.S. Navy in the
Second Seminole War

When war broke out in late 1835, the U.S. Navy
and Revenue Service (forerunner of the Coast Guard)
imnnediately began transporting men and material to Fort
Brooke and other posts in need of support. Warships
guarded the coastline to prevent the Indians from obtaining
weapons from Cuba or the Bahamas, while smaller
vessels patrolled the inland waters. The navy and marines
were also called upon to garrison forts, escort wagon
trains, and fight the Indians.

The army soon discovered it was ill-equipped for
operations in a watery wilderness covered with numerous
lakes and rivers, a situation that led to requests for naval
assistance in conducting offensive operations. A new type
of warfare was called for, and the task fell to two talented
and dedicated naval officers. Lieutenants Levin M. Powell
and John T. McLaughlin.

Lieutenant Powell was the first to lead combined army/
navy expeditions against the Seminole. Using small
purpose-built watercraft to transport sailors, marines, and
soldiers, he penetrated the Everglades to attack villages
and destroy crops. One of the most significant actions took
place on January 15, 1838 at the Loxahatchee River near
Jupiter (see article, page 46).

Lieutenant McLaughlin took command in 1839 of an
expanded force of 600 men and a fleet of 200 small craft
known as the "Mosquito Fleet." The expeditions and
operations in the Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp, and
along the coast continued, putting constant pressure on
the Seminole and forcing many to surrender. This new type
of "riverine" warfare contributed significantly to bringing
\> about an end to the Second Seminole War.
\^ - Article by Harry Pickering

Volusia County

The area around the St. Johns River was the heart of
Florida s sugar industry, and the ruins of several sugar
plantations destroyed by the Indians are located in
Volusia County.

De Leon Springs

Spring Garden Plantation

De Leon Springs State Park, 601 Ponce De Leon Boulevard
386,985.4212

floridastateparks.org

Machinery and stonework from the water-powered
sugar mill is on display near a beautiful spring.

Waterwheel hub and axle, De Leon Springs State Park.

New Smyrna Beach

New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins

600 Mission Drive

A very nice set of ruins at a county park. Informational
displays tell of the mills operation and destruction.

Buckle from 1839 pattern
Dragoon saber belt.

(Image courtesy of the
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

^ast Central ^^^egion

Ormond Beach

Dummett Plantation Ruins

1.7 miles north of the entrance to Tomoka State Park, Old
Dixie Highway (Beach Street)

A small set of ruins enclosed by a fence at a wayside park.

Port Orange

Dunlawton Plantation Sugar Mill Ruins

950 Old Sugar Mill Road

Site of one of the Second Seminole War s early
battles (see article, page 23), the ruins are located
in the Dunlawton Sugar Mill Botanical Gardens.
The brickwork and parts of the steam engine
from the sugar works are well preserved, and the
accompanying gardens and walkways are an added
bonus. An historical marker fflis in the parking lot.

Winfield Scott and the Fortunes of War

When news of the war's outbreak reached Washington
in January 1836, President Jackson ordered Major
General Winfield Scott to take charge of the war effort.
A general before age 30 and a hero of the War of 1812,
Scott stood 6'5" and had earned the nickname "Old Fuss

Volusia

Volusia Marker

Just east of the St. Johns River Bridge, under the "Volusia Oak"
The town was a major port on the St. Johns River,
supplying men and material to posts further inland and
south along the river.

Major General Winfield Scott, portrait by George Catlin, ca. 1835.

Dunlawton Plantation Sugar

and Feathers" for his love of military ceremony. As the
nation's leading tactician, he was the obvious choice to
crush the Seminole.

Unfortunately for Scott, his expertise was in
Napoleonic warfare, not Indian fighting, and things did
not go well. His plan was to divide his 5,000 men into
three columns, all to converge in a precisely-timed
pincer movement on the Cove of the Withlacoochee,
the Seminole stronghold. Between a shortage of
supplies, poor communications, the unmapped terrain,
and Seminole attacks, the timing quickly fell apart.
With the exception of a small battle fought near the
Withlacoochee River on March 31, 1836, and the 18-day
Seminole siege of Fort Cooper (page 34), there was little
action and few Seminole were killed or captured. The
Indians, well aware of the army's approach, evacuated
the area and refused to take on the large army except
when it was to their advantage. Unhappy with Scott's
performance, Jackson removed the general from
command of the war and ordered a court of inquiry into
Scott's conduct of the campaign.

The entire campaign proved an embarrassment to
Scott, but did little to harm his career. He went on to
achieve further fame with his conquest of Mexico a
decade later, and was still Commanding General of the
Army at the commencement of the Civil War.

^^lX)^st Central ^J^ion

Citrus County
Dunnellon

n i'iii mmmmmrnmmmmmmmm

Brigadier General Duncan Lamont Clinch

(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Duncan Clinch

and the Battle of the Withlacoochee

Brigadier General Duncan Lament Clinch was the
officer in charge of United States troops in Florida in
the years leading up to the Second Seminole War. An
able soldier who was respected both by his superiors
in Washington and the Indians of Florida, Clinch did his
best to keep the peace.

At the behest of Florida Militia General Richard Keith
Call, Clinch intended to make a swift march deep into the
Indian enclave south of the Withlacoochee River. The
operation bogged down early after the troops took three
days to reach the Withlacoochee and then divided, with
the regulars slowly crossing in a single canoe while the
volunteers remained on the north side. On December 31,
1835 after the regulars were gathered on the south side
of the river, Osceola and the war leader Alligator attacked
them. The sudden assault pitted 250 Seminole warriors
against 750 United States soldiers, more than half of
whom never made it to the south side of the river to join
the fray. This strategy was to become the trademark for
future Seminole actions. Clinch was forced to attempt an
aggressive defense in swampy terrain with the Seminole
moving in and out from the trees, inflicting alarming
casualties on his troops. Forced to deal with the mounting
number of wounded. Clinch ordered a withdrawal. The
Seminole had ably demonstrated in two major battles
their strong resolve to stay in Florida. The war for Florida
and Seminole survival was on.

- Article by Gary Ellis

Two Mile Preserve

Trailhead is on E. Withlacoochee Trail, 5 miles east of US41.

swfwmd.state.fl.us/ recreation

The site of General Clinchs Battle of the
Withlacoochee (see article, this page). Part of the
Southwest Florida Water Management District, the
preserve has hiking trails, one of which leads to an
observation tower overlooking a pond and clearing.

Homosassa

William Cooley Marker

Tour Boat Landing on W. Fishbowl Drive behind Ellie
Schiller Homosassa Wildlife State Park (4150 South
Suncoast Boulevard)

Dedicated to one of the area s first settlers, who came
to the area after his family was slain in 1836 by Indians
near what is now downtown Fort Lauderdale (see
marker, page 42).

Inverness

Fort Cooper State Park

3100 S. Old Floral City Road
352.726.0315

fIoridastateparks.org/park/Fort-Cooper
In April 1836 General Winfield Scott ordered a force of
approximately 300 Georgia Volunteers to erect a fort
on this site. The fort was held under siege for over
two weeks before being relieved. The park features
a Seminole Heritage Trial with kiosks detailing
the history of the local Indians, the fort, and the
Seminole War.

Battle Reenactment at Fort Cooper State Park, Inverness.

^lX)^st central ^^^egion

Thomas Jesup

and the Fort Dade Capitulation

"I now for the first time have allowed myself to believe
the war at an end," Major General Thomas S. Jesup wrote
from his headquarters at Fort Dade on the Withlacoochee
River. Jesup, the army's Quartermaster General and
a combat veteran of the War of 1812, had realized the
Seminole would not be defeated in one swift campaign.
By building numerous forts, keeping them well-supplied,
and sending out harassing patrols, Jesup had applied
unrelenting pressure on the Seminole.

On the 17th of March, 1837, the principle chief of the
Seminole, Micanopy, came to Fort Dade and told Jesup
"he had never before consented to emigrate; but that
he now believed the Great Spirit had so ordered, that
he should leave the land of his fathers." The Articles of
Capitulation, already agreed to by three lesser chiefs,
were read to him. He "submitted cheerfully," giving his
consent. Hundreds of Seminole began to gather near Fort
Brooke at Tampa Bay.

As word spread among white Floridians that the Black
Seminole "allies" were to accompany the Indians to the
new homes west of the Mississippi, trouble surfaced. The
Indians began to feel uneasy as slave catchers gathered
around the camp, hoping to catch unwary blacks. Other
Indians, such as Osceola and Sam Jones, refused to give
up the fight, and on June 2 they led the Seminole away
from the camp in the dead of night. The peace Jesup

Major General Thomas S. Jesup, ca. 1847.

had worked so hard for had lasted less than 90 days.
Infuriated by what he considered Seminole treachery,
Jesup soon instituted the policy of taking prisoner any
Indian who came in to negotiate. Many Americans
considered the policy dishonorable, and it left a shadow
on Jesup's reputation for the rest of his life.

- Article by Frank Laumer

Old Citrus County Courthouse
Heritage Museum

1 Courthouse Square
352.341.6429

Located in the old Citrus County Courthouse, this
fine museum has displays on the Seminole Wars and
several artifacts from the period.

Hernando County
Brooksville

In Charlotte Wynn Pyles Crum Marker

Brooksville Cemetery, 1275 Olmes Road, near the
main entrance

The marker tells the story of Charlotte Crum, an early
settler of Brooksville and one of the last fatalities of the
Second Seminole War.

iSChocochatti Marker

SR50 & Alternate SR50, east of town

Marks the location of a large Seminole settlement

attacked by the army during the Second Seminole War.

Ridge Manor

15 Fort King Road Marker

SR50 & US301

One of several markers along the path of the Fort King
Road, an important military trail during the Second
Seminole War (see article, page 38).

"To persevere in the course we have been pursuing
for three years past would be a reckless waste of blood
and treasure!

- Major General Thomas S, Jesup

^lX)^st Central ^^^egion

Women in the Seminole Wars

Fighting in wars has traditionally been the province of
men, yet the suffering brought on by warfare very often
falls most heavily upon non-combatant women and their
children. The Seminole Wars was just such a conflict.
Isolated homesteads were among the Seminole's favored
targets, while the army placed a priority upon capturing
Indian families as a means of forcing warriors to surrender.

An army attack upon a Seminole village often meant the
loss of home and valuable possessions, even if the women
managed to elude capture. Army Surgeon Jacob R. Motte
commented upon a group of captured women, writing,
"The squaws engaged in picking up the corn which our
horses dropped from their mouths while eating ... many
having nothing around them but the old corn bags we had
thrown away."

White women living outside fortified towns could feel
just as vulnerable. Settler Corinna Brown told her brother,
"Nobody is ... safe while the whole river lies open to the
attacks of the savages without one solitary soldier to
defend it. ... There are many families ... turned out of their
homes without money and without food."

Women on both sides learned to be resilient and
self-sufficient. When their villages were destroyed, Indian
women set about building new camps and planting new
fields. Most were as determined as the warriors not to be
driven from their homes. Polly Parker, forced to emigrate

in 1858, escaped
from the steamer
when it docked at St.
Marks to take on fuel.
Telling her guards
she and other women
were going ashore
to gather medicinal
herbs, she fled south,
making her way back
to the Everglades,
where she eventually
became an important
tribal matriarch.

White women,
both in Florida and around the nation, learned how
to manage the farm or support themselves without
assistance from their spouses, all the while worrying for
their loved one's safety. The wife of Captain John Rogers
Vinton wrote to her husband, "Oh! I am sick at heart for
since the receipt of your last letter describing the Battle
of Camp Monroe, my fears for you are more alive than
ever." Many women, on both sides, experienced the
anguish of loss or unending burdens when their loved
ones failed to return from the war or came back with
debilitating wounds or diseases.

Polly Parker.

(Image courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

Hillsborough County ^

Tampa

Fort Brooke Cemetery Marker

N. Franklin Street (Fort Brooke Parking Garage, in mall)
Site of the cemetery of Fort Brooke, one of the major
posts of the Second and Third Seminole Wars, and the
first post erected after Florida was obtained from Spain
in 1821. The cemetery contained the remains of both
soldiers and Indians.

Fort Brooke Mass Grave Marker

Oaklawn Cemetery, E. Harrison & N. Morgan Streets
Remains from the Fort Brooke Cemetery were
reinterred in this cemetery after being discovered
during 20th century construction.

Fort Brooke Officer's Quarters Marker

N. Franklin Street (Fort Brooke Parking Garage,
at trolley terminal)

Marks the location of the Officer s Quarters of Fort
Brooke, the beginning of the city of Tampa.

Fort Brooke in the 1830s.

(Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)

^lX)^st Central ^^^egion

Tampa Bay History Center

810 Old Water Street
813.228.0097

tampabayhistorycenter.org

"Coacoochee s Story" is a permanent theatrical-style exhibit
about the Second Seminole War from the viewpoints of a
Seminole leader and an army officer. There are also several
other exhibits pertaining to the Seminole Wars. Sixteen
markers telling the history of early Tampa and Fort Brooke
are in the park adjacent to the History Center.

Historical markers, in park adjacent to Tampa Bay History Center.

Tampa Bay

Egmont Key State Park

Accessible by boat only
727.893.2627

floridastateparks.org/park/Egmont-Key
The island was used as the final detention center
and prisoner camp for Seminole who were awaiting
transport to the West during the Third Seminole War.
A small cemetery contains the remains of those who
died while awaiting transport.

Thonotosassa

Fort Foster at Hillsborough River State Park

15402 US301 North
813.987.6771

floridastateparks.org/park/Hillsborough-River
A fully reconstructed fort from the Second Seminole War.
Tours with guides are held on Saturdays at 10:00 and 4:00,
and Sundays at 11:00. Not open to the public at other times,
except for special events. There is also a display of artifacts
from the fort on display at the park s interpretive center.

Major General
Edmund Gaines.

(Image courtesy of the
State Archives of Florida
floridamemory. com/items/
show/25572)

Fort Foster, Hillsborough River State Park.

(Image courtesy of Florida State Parks)

Edmund Gaines and
the Battle at Camp Izard

News of the destruction of Major
Dade's comnnand reached New Orleans
on January 11, 1836. The State of
Louisiana and Major General Edmund
P. Gaines, comnnander of the Western
Department of the Army, immediately
began to raise an army to put down
the Indian uprising. Gaines and about
1,100 men, mostly Louisiana Volunteers
arrived at Tampa Bay on February 9.
Gaines immediately advanced up the Fort King Road,
and his troops were the first to arrive at the Dade Battle
site and bury the dead. Finding little in the way of supplies
at Fort King, Gaines decided to return to Fort Brooke
through the Seminole stronghold of the Cove of the
Withlacoochee River.

Lieutenant James F. Izard, in advance of the main
army column, had just entered the Withlacoochee when
a large force of Seminole defenders opened fire from
the south riverbank. Izard received a bullet in the nose
that passed behind his left eye. The Seminole pressed
their attack on the first day from early morning to late
afternoon, and Gaines ordered his troops to build a
temporary breastwork of horizontal logs, naming it in
honor of the dying Lieutenant Izard. Throughout the
siege, Gaines continued to send dispatches to Fort
King requesting troops, materials, and subsistence,
believing that with reinforcements a real opportunity
existed to defeat the entire Seminole force in one
major engagement. As the battle continued into early
March the plight of the soldiers grew worse with respect
to diminishing food supplies, poor water, and the
accumulation of wounded. Horses, draft animals, and
even dogs were consumed by the troops.

On the evening of March 5, Abraham, the principal
slave of Micanopy, proffered a parley. The following day
Osceola offered to lift the siege and free the soldiers if
Gaines would withdraw his army and agree to allow the
Indians to live in peace south of the Withlacoochee River.
At this juncture General Clinch's relief column came into
view, ending the negotiations and the siege. On March 9
Gaines turned over the command of his army to Clinch and
a retreat commenced a few days later.

-Article by Gary Ellis

^^lX)^st Central ^^T^ion

Fort King Road Monument

At the intersection of Harney & Fowler Streets

A point along the military trail is marked by a small

stone monument in the center of a triangular median.

YborCity

Fort King Trail Marker

E. 8th Avenue, near Angel Oliva Senior Street

The marker denotes the beginning of the Fort King
Road, which ran from Tampa to Fort King at Ocala.

Levy County
Cedar Key

Cedar Key State Park

12231 SW 166th Court
352.543.5350

floridastateparks.org/ park/ Cedar-Key-Museum
Cedar Key was a major supply depot during
the Second Seminole War and Colonel Worth s
headquarters when the war was declared over
on August 15, 1842. Seminole prisoners awaiting
deportation to the west were held at Seahorse Key,
just offshore. The state park museum has a small
exhibit about the war. Also worth visiting is the
Cedar Key Museum at 609 Second Street.

The Fort King Road

The Fort King Road was a 20-foot wide military trail
cleared through the wilderness of central Florida by
U.S. soldiers in 1827. Its starting point was Fort Brooke
(Tampa) and its terminus was about 100 miles north at

Fort King (Ocala).
For most of the the
Second Seminole
War it was the primary
thoroughfare through
central Florida, and
the nearby areas
saw some of the
fiercest fighting of
the war. Uncounted
thousands of soldiers
marched this route,
accompanied by tons
of supplies. When

Monuments to fallen officers, Fort King Road,
Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.

Marion County
Dunnellon

Camp Izard

Trailhead is 5.2 miles east of town on CR484
352,796,7211

swfwmd.state.fl.us/ recreation

Scene of the Second Seminole War s largest battle, where
the Seminole held 1,000 soldiers under siege for over a
week (see article, page 37), The site is undeveloped and
part of the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve of the Southwest
Florida Water Management District, named in honor
of Chief Alligator (see marker^ page 22), Contact the
District office or website for information and trail maps.
Approximately four-mile hike one way.

Ocala

Fort King National Historic Landmark

3952 E. Fort King Street

fl<ha.org

Site of the Seminole Indian Agency and a major
post during the Second Seminole War, the fort was
the beginning of Ocala and the place where Osceola
killed Agent Wiley Thompson on December 28,
1835, the same day as the Dade Battle. The park
opened in 2014 with hiking trails and a visitor center.

soldiers weren't around, the Seminole used it too.

The path was cut by 80 axe-wielding soldiers who
chopped down trees and cut the stumps to a height lower
than the axle of the lowest military vehicle. All the stumps
were cupped to hold rain water and hasten decay.

There is not much left of the old road; time and
construction have destroyed most of it. There are some
places where for short distances it can be seen, but most
are on private property. U.S. Highway 301 has taken
its place over the years, and the path of the old road
wanders back and forth across it.

At Hillsborough River State Park you can tour a
replica of Fort Foster, built to protect the road and bridge
from marauding Seminoles. Near Bushnell you will find
the most well-marked portion of the road at the Dade
Battlefield Historic State Park. Take a few minutes and
walk the path so many men did, never knowing when or
where their journey might end.

- Article by Jerry Morris

^lX)^st Central ^^^egion

Marion County Museum of History
& Archaeology

307 SE 26th Terrace
352.236.5245

marioncountyarchaeology.com

Features exhibits on early Marion County history,
including Fort King and the Second Seminole War.

Silver River Museum

Silver River State Park
1425 NE 58th Avenue
352.236.5401

marion.kl2.fl.us/ district/ srm

floridastateparks.org/park/Silver-Springs

The museum has several exhibits on the Seminole

Indians and Second Seminole War. Operated by

Marion County Public Schools, it is open to the public

only on weekends.

Silver River IVIuseum.

Pasco County
Dade City

Bradley Massacre Monument

Located at CR581 &
Darby Road; take SR52,
2 miles west of 1-75, then
north 2.6 miles on CR581

In the northern-most
event of the Third
Seminole War, Indians
attacked the home
of Captain Richard
Bradley, killing his young
daughter and fifteen-
year-old son before being
driven off by gunfire
from the cabin.

NtAK IKIS M'OI ON MAY 14, l«56. A SEMINOI.I
WAK I'ARIY Al lACKKD THF. MOMF, 01 AN F.ARl.Y
SETT/iR CAPI R05ERT DUKE BRAW.rY Of TllF.
FLORIDA FOOT VOLUNTEKRS.TWO OF Till BRAUl.FY
CHILDREN WERE KILLED MFORl' TllF INDIANS
WITHDREW. THIS WAS THE LAST SUCH ATTACK
ON A SETTLERS HOMESTEAD EAST OF THF.
MISSISSIPPI

PLACED BY

!ll PASCO BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONF.RS
AND

rflE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE '
1979

fn Christmas Day 1835 Marker

Located on Fort King Road behind Pasco High School
(36850 SR52)

Marks the campsite of Major Dade s command three
days before they were ambushed at the Dade Battle in
Bushnell (see article, page 41),

fnFort Dade Marker

2.1 miles south of SR50 on US301, just south of
Withlacoochee bridge. Ridge Manor

Fort Dade was established to guard the Fort King
Road bridge over the Withlacoochee River. In
February and March 1837 talks were held here that
brought a temporary end to the Second Seminole
War (see article, page 35).

• Polk County •

Bartow

Fort Blount Monument

Main & Carpenter Streets, in the park next to the Polk
County Historical Museum

Stone monument commemorating the site of the Third
Seminole War fort that would eventually become the
city of Bartow.

Fort Carroll Marker

SR60, 2 miles east of town, at the Florida Sheriff's Youth Ranch
Marks the site of a supply depot erected in 1841.

Fort Fraser Trail

The hiking/biking trail extends alongside US98 from
Bartow to Lakeland

There are two markers (not always visible from the
roadway). One is at the trailhead at CR540 and the
other midway between CR540A and Smith Lane.

Bradley Massacre Monument.

Fort Fraser Trail.

^^lX)^st Central ^^I^gion

Polk County Historical Museum

Located in the old county courthouse, 100 E. Main Street
863,534.4381

polk-county.net

This large museum has a pair of exhibits on the
Seminole Wars and their effect on local history.

Polk County Historical Museum.

Fort Meade

Fort Meade Marker

3rd Street NE, at park east of Cleveland Avenue
Marks the location of Fort Meade, a major post in the
Third Seminole War.

Willoughby Tillis Battle Monument

One block south of US98 at S. Church Street

Monument erected to those slain in a decisive battle of
the Third Seminole War (see article^ page 50),

Lake Alfred

Fort Cummings Marker

W. Pierce Street & US17/92 North

Commemorates a nearby fort erected to protect the road
between Fort Brooke in Tampa and Fort Mellon (Sanford).

Lake Hamilton

Chief Chipco Marker

Sample Park, west side of US27, 1.8 miles north of SR542
Memorial to a Seminole leader from the Third Seminole
War era who was friendly to the neighboring whites.

Lake Wales

Fort Gardiner Marker

Camp Mack Road & Roasalie Boulevard, 3.4 miles west of
Lake Kissimmee State Park

Marks the nearby location of a fort built in December
1837 by Colonel Zachary Taylor along the route from
Tampa to the battle at Lake Okeechobee.

Sumter County
Bushnell

m Battle of Wahoo Swamp Marker

5.6 miles west of 1-75 on SR48
Marks the location of an important battle of the
Second Seminole War, where the Seminole stopped the
advance of a force led by Territorial Governor Richard
K. Call (see article^ page 17).

Fort Armstrong Monument

North of the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park on CR476
Marks the location of one of a series of forts erected to
protect the Fort King Road.

Major David Moniac
Commemorative Headstone

Florida National Cemetery,
6502 SW 102nd Avenue;
Section MD, site 1

The first Native American
West Point graduate, Major
Moniac was killed at the
Battle of Wahoo Swamp
while leading Creek Indian
Volunteers serving with the
American army. TTie marker
is commemorative only; his
remains are believed to
be under the pyramids
at the National Cemetery
in St. Augustine.

Major David Moniac
commemorative headstone.

Replica of 1830s army forage cap;
by Dr. Ray Giron.

(Image courtesy of Jerry Morris)

^^lX)^st Central ^^^egion

Dade Battlefield Historic State Park

7200 CR603
352.793.4781

floridastateparks.org/park/Dade-Battlefield

Site of the deadliest battle of the Seminole Wars.
On December 28, 1835, the Seminole, determined
not to be driven from their homes, ambushed and

Death in December: The Dade Battle

It was a Monday, three days after Christmas, 1 835. Major
Francis Langhorne Dade was in comnnand; eight officers,
100 men marching two by two, and a black interpreter,
Luis Pacheco. Six days out of Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay,
two days from their destination. Fort King at Ocala.

Dade rode easy in the saddle. The Seminole were out
there somewhere, had been from the start, but the rivers
and swamps were behind them. If the Indians hadn't
struck at the four river crossings, they were not likely to
try it now. Ahead, as far as he could see, were tall pines,
their trunks as bare as flag poles. He called out to the
men, "Our difficulties and dangers are over now. We'll
soon be in Fort King. You'll have three days off and keep
Christmas gaily!"

What he didn't see were 180 Seminole warriors lying
low in the grass, hidden by the pines. The time for talking
had passed. The time to fight for their peoples' existence
had come. Sixty yards out, ahead of the advance guard.

annihilated a column of 108 soldiers at this place (see
article, below).

The park has an excellent museum explaining the battle
and contains artifacts from the site. Visitors can walk the
same path the doomed soldiers trod and stand within a
replica of the small defensive enclosure where many of
them made their last stand.

to the west of the road and beyond the rear guard and the
cannon, they held their rifles and waited.

The chief, Micanopy, rose and took aim at the tall officer
on horseback. He knew him, had been his friend in Tampa.
He fired. Dade cried out, "My God!" and fell to the side,
shot through the heart and dead before he hit the ground.

Nearly half the column of 108 soldiers were dead or
wounded after the first Seminole volley. The survivors took
up defensive positions and began to return fire, using a
cannon to force the Indians to withdraw. During the respite,
the soldiers chopped down trees to form a crude triangular
breastwork, cared for the wounded, gathered their
ammunition. After about an hour, the Seminole returned,
advancing cautiously, picking off the doomed soldiers one
by one. By the end of the day, all but three of Dade's men
were dead. Only two would survive the painful journey
back to Fort Brooke. The fight for Seminole freedom and
the Second Seminole War had begun.

-Article by Frank Laumer

Dade Battle Reenactment, Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.

Embroidered leather money belt and silk sash worn by Lieutenant William Basinger, killed at the Dade Battle, December 28, 1835.

(Image courtesy of the Collection of the Museum of Florida History)

Southeast ^J^egion

Mural at Long Key Nature Center.

Sam Jones:

The Man Who Would Not Give Up

Abiaka or Sam Jones was born ca. 1 781 , and
became the dedicated force behind one of the strongest
resistance movements in American Indian history.

Residing in the Everglades before 1828, Jones was 54
years old at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War, in
which he, as Mikasuki spiritual leader, instigated, incited,
and strategized. In March 1837, the hereditary leader
of the Mikasuki, Micanopy, capitulated to removal with
700 followers. Jones staged a coup against him in June,
which resulted in Jones' election as head of the combined
Seminole force opposing removal. Jones' warriors and
emissaries were young, visible, and gregarious: Osceola,
Cooacoochee, and Chitto Tustenuggee. Jones, on the
other hand, was acutely cautious, knowing that his capture
would have ended both the movement and the war.

He was the strategist behind the major pitched battles at
Okeechobee (December 1837) and Loxahatchee (January
1838). In the Everglades and Big Cypress, he orchestrated
the cultivation of subsistence crops and instituted supply
lines north, utilizing a secret inland watenA/ay. Considered
a supernatural, his powers as a medicine man were
feared by friend and foe alike, while his harsh dictums
were swiftly enforced through the machinations of his
Red Stick "Prophet."

Seventy-eight years old at the
beginning of the Third Seminole
War, his leadership position was
never relinquished. At war's
end, with the Alachuas under
Bowlegs having emigrated, Jones'
Mikasuki people represented four-
fifths of the Indians in Florida.
He died peaceably in the 1860s
knowing that he had indeed won,
I and his people would remain and

Sam Jones statue at
Tree Tops Park in Davie.

(Bronze by Cooley)

thrive in Florida.

- Article by Patsy West

Broward County
Davie

Long Key Nature Center and Natural Area

3501 SW 130th Avenue
954.357,8797

broward.org/parks/LongKeyNaturalArea
The Nature Center has an excellent exhibit on the
Seminole and the war-time Everglades ecosystem.
Nature trails lead into what was once a major Seminole
village, located on land that was of a slightly higher
elevation than the surrounding Everglades.

Tree Tops Park/Pine Island Ridge

3900 SW 100th Avenue
954.357.5130

broward.org/parks/TreeTopsPark

Known as "Sam Jones' Island" during the Seminole Wars,
this elevated area was an important Seminole village. A
statue of Jones (see article, this page) leading a Seminole
woman and her child to safety stands behind the visitor
center, which has an extensive display about him. A nearby
path leads into the Pine Island Ridge Natural Area and to
a statue of Major William Lauderdale, the namesake of
Fort Lauderdale. The statue can also be seen by entering
Forest Ridge subdivision from Pine Island Road.

On March 22, 1838, 350 troops from Fort Lauderdale
approached the island in small boats and were fired
upon by the Indians. The soldiers spread out, nearly
surrounding the village. Fighting continued until
nightfall, when the Seminole made their escape. This
action forced the Seminole from the eastern Everglades
and into the more heavily- wooded Big Cypress.

Fort Lauderdale

Cooley Massacre Monument

Colee Hammock Park, 1500 Brickell Drive
Site of an attack on the isolated homestead of the Cooley
family at the beginning of the Second Seminole War. The
Indians attacked while William Cooley was away, killing
his wife, three children, and the children's tutor (see
Cooley Marker, page 34).

Qoutfieast ^J^egion

Major William Lauderdale Statue, by sculptor Luis Montoya.
Located at Pine Island Ridge Park (see previous page).

fn First Fort Lauderdale Marker

400 SW 11th Avenue

Site of the first of three Fort Lauderdales. The first
fort was built near the forlcs of New River, the second
farther downstream to accommodate larger vessels, and
the third on a barrier island near the ocean.

Fort Lauderdale Historical Society Museum

219 SW 2nd Avenue
954,463.4431

The museum has a display featuring life-size
mannequins in Seminole warrior dress and soldier s
uniform, and a diorama of the fort with a map showing
the locations of the three Fort Lauderdales.

Fort Lauderdale Beach

ffi Indian Haulover Marker

At the entrance to Bahia Mar Yacht Harbor,
801 Seabreeze Boulevard

Near the site of the third Fort Lauderdale, which was
active until the war s end in 1842. There is also a stone
monument across the street, on the beach.

Miramar

Snake Warrior's Island Natural Area

3600 SW 62nd Avenue
954.357.8776

broward.org/parks/SnakeWarriorsIsland
This wildlife preserve was once the home of Chitto
Tustennuggee, Seminole war leader and associate
of Sam Jones. The park has hiking trails and
informational kiosks.

• Indian River County •

Vero Beach

fn Fort Vinton Marker

SR60 and 122nd Avenue, 3.5 miles west of 1-95

Site of a fort erected after the Scare of 1849, when it was

believed another Indian war might erupt.

• Miami-Dade County •

Key Biscayne

Cape Florida State Park

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park,
1200 S. Crandon Boulevard
305.361.5811

floridastateparks.org/ park/ Cape-Florida

Site of an 1836 attack in which the Seminole set fire
to the lighthouse, forcing the keeper and his assistant
out onto the light s balcony. Gunfire from the ground
wounded the keeper and killed the assistant. The keeper
was rescued by sailors from a U.S. Navy warship the
following day.

Key Biscayne Lighthouse at Cape Florida State Park.

Qoutfieast ^J^egion

General William S. Harney, ca. 1860-1865.

(Image courtesy of National Archives)

William S. Harney
and the Caloosahatchee Attack

In early 1839, after three
years of fighting and
with no end in sight,
Major General
Alexander Macomb,
the army's highest-
ranking officer,
traveled to Florida
to negotiate a
treaty with the
Seminole. It was
one of the rare times
in our history when a
Native American tribe
forced the United
States to negotiate an
end to an Indian war.

As part of the treaty, it was agreed that a trading post
would be established near the Caloosahatchee River,
at what is now downtown Cape Coral. In command
was Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney with about
two dozen soldiers. Things were peaceful at first, and
the Indians would frequently visit the trading post and
proclaim their satisfaction with the agreement. But on
the night of July 23, 1 839, a group of renegade "Spanish
Indians" led by Chakaika and Hospetarke attacked the
store and sleeping soldiers. Half the soldiers and store
clerks were killed or captured by the Indians, some
never rising from their beds. The Indians made off
with considerable plunder, including experimental Colt
revolving rifles.

Several men escaped, including Harney, who
ran into the river wearing only his night clothes. Two
survivors were found barely alive two weeks later by a
burial party, and Harney would search for a year and
a half before finding Chakaika and taking revenge.
Mikasuki leader Sam Jones denied any involvement by
mainstream Seminole, but enraged whites considered
the treaty a failure, and warfare resumed. Harney,
known for dealing harshly with Indians, would later
command U.S. forces during the Third Seminole War.

-Article by Christopher Kimball

Miami

Fort Dallas

Lummus Park, 404 NW 3rd Street
305.416,1416

miamigov.com/ parks

Original stone barracks from Fort Dallas, the
beginning of Miami. Located in a City of Miami
Park, the building is presently unused. Contact the
park office for admittance.

Fort Dallas Barracks.

HistoryMiami Museum

101 W. Flagler Street
305,375.1492

historymiami.org

The museum has a large exhibit on the Seminole and
the Seminole Wars, including photos of participants,
maps, and pictures of the region during the wars.

Miccosukee Indian Village and Museum

US41, 24 miles west of the Florida Turnpike
305,552,8365

miccosukee.com

The official museum of the Miccosukee Tribe of
Indians of Florida, this fine museum features exhibits
on Seminole culture and the Seminole Wars. Tours
into the Everglades are available nearby.

Military Trail Marker

Arch Creek Park, 1855 NE 135th Street, North Miami
Marks a portion of the military trail that ran
between Fort Dallas (Miami) and Fort Lauderdale
at a point where it crossed Arch Creek over a
natural bridge. The park also has a small museum
with a display about General William S. Harney.

"They may shoot us, drive our women and children
night and day; they may chain our hands and feet,
but the red mans heart will be always free!'

- Coacoochee (Wild Cat)

Qoutheast ^^egion

Zachary Taylor and the Battle of Okeechobee

One of the most fiercely-fought battles of the Second
Seminole War took place on Christmas Day, 1837, along
the north shore of Lake Okeechobee. Colonel Zachary
Taylor was leading a force of about 850 men along the
Kissimmee River when he received word that several
hundred Seminole had taken up position in a heavily
wooded hammock near the water's edge. The Seminole,
under Sam Jones, Coacoochee, and others, had chosen
a superbly defensible position, forcing the troops to cross
a thick sawgrass swamp, making them perfect targets for
the Indian warriors.

Keeping nearly half his force in reserve, Taylor ordered
about 120 Missouri Volunteers to make the first assault.
After suffering heavy casualties, the volunteers fell back
and were replaced by regular troops from the Sixth
Infantry. This unit also suffered severely, losing almost
every officer. Taylor then ordered the Fourth Infantry to
attack. Instead of marching in orderly ranks, these men
rushed the hammock with bayonets fixed, finally driving
the Seminole from the field of battle. As the fighting ended,
Taylor sent in his reserves.

The American press hailed it as a great victory and
Zachary Taylor became a national hero, was made a
general, and took his first steps toward the presidency.
But how great a victory was it? Taylor's men had killed
few of their enemy. In contrast, approximately one-third of

the soldiers who had attacked the hammock before the
reserves were sent in were dead or wounded. With half of
Taylor's force out of action, the Seminole had gained time
to make their escape to the safety of the Everglades.

Zachary Taylor portrait by Joseph Henry Bush, ca. 1848.

Monroe County
Islamorada

Indian Key State Park

USl, Mile Marker 78,5
305.664.2540

floridastateparks.org/park/Indian-Key
Accessible by boat only.

Site of an 1840 attack that killed Dr. Henry Perrine and
several others. At the time, Indian Key was the County
Seat of Dade County and one of the largest settlements
in the area. A large party of Indians traveled by canoe
at night to attack the island and used the island s
cannon to fire on a rescue party coming from the naval
hospital at nearby Tea Table Key. There is a small kiosk
at the boat ramp on the causeway island nearby and a
stone monument for Tea Table Key at the opposite end
of the same island.

Key West

Key West Military Memorial

Mallory Square, 400 Wall Street

This small plaza features monuments to all military
personnel who have served in Key West, with a monument
for each of the wars, including the Seminole Wars.

• Okeechobee County •

Okeechobee

Okeechobee Battlefield Historic State Park

3500 SE 38th Avenue, off US441/98

okeechobeebattlefield.com

Site of the Battle of Okeechobee, one of the Second
Seminole War s major battles (see article^ this page).
Recently acquired by the state, the park is still under
development and will be open to the public in 2015. A large
stone marker on the grounds commemorates the battle.

Southeast ^J^egion

The Battles of Loxahatchee

General Jesup's second campaign
culminated in the two Battles of
the Loxahatchee, January 15 and
24, 1838. In the first. Lieutenant
Levin M. Powell (U.S. Navy), with
a mixed contingent of sailors and soldiers, paddled up
the southwest fork of the Loxahatchee River, where they
disembarked and marched inland. In what became known
as Powell's Battle, they stumbled upon and engaged a
large force of Seminole, the same warriors who had fought
Zachary Taylor three weeks earlier at Okeechobee.

The Seminole were experienced guerrilla fighters and
soon the casualties mounted for Powell's sailors (many
of whom were new recruits), who broke ranks and ran.
When Powell was wounded and ordered a withdrawal.
Lieutenant Joseph E. Johnston and his army regulars
conducted a rear guard action. This allowed most of
the men to get back to the boats, but not before several
were slain, including the surgeon.

Learning of Powell's defeat, Jesup ordered his army
of 1 ,600 men forward in hopes of engaging the same
Seminole force. At noon on January 24 some of Jesup's
troops were met by Seminole scouts, who fired on the
lead file of Dragoons. The Dragoons gave chase, and
along with a large group of Tennessee Volunteers,
entered a cypress swamp half a mile wide. The army
pushed across the swamp into a dense hammock and up
to the Loxahatchee River. Using the shallow river ford to
cross, the Indians quickly regrouped and waited for the
troops to follow.

The volunteers followed them to the ford and took
cover, but faced with heavy fire, would not attempt a
crossing. Jesup, enraged that the volunteers were holding
back, ordered them to follow his lead, but the volunteer
commander. Major William Lauderdale, refused to comply,
and Jesup found himself alone at the river's edge.
Dangerously exposed, he received a wound to the face
just below the left eye and was forced to fall back.

The battle ended when Colonel William S. Harney,
with fifteen men, succeeded in crossing the river and
took position on the Seminole flank. Under pressure, the
Indians fell back and disappeared into the swamp, a tactic
they often employed. Jesup reported that seven of his
men were killed in the engagement and 31 wounded.

-Article by Richard Procyk

Palm Beach County •

Jupiter

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum

500 Captain Armours Way
561.747.8380

jupiterlighthouse.org

Although devoted primarily to the lighthouse, the
museum features a small exhibit on the Seminole Wars.

Loxahatchee Battlefield Park

9060 Indiantown Road
561.741.1359

loxahatcheebattlefield.com

Site of two important battles of the Second Seminole
War (see article, this page), the site is now a county
park with numerous hiking and biking trails. Events
pertaining to the wars are held often. Markers IM for the
battles are at the park entrance.

m Military Trail Marker

At the intersection of Military Trail and Indiantown Road
(SR706), under the clock tower.

Marks the northern terminus of a 63-mile road from
Fort Jupiter to Fort Dallas (Miami) cut through the
wilderness in 1838 by Major William Lauderdale and
the Tennessee Volunteers.

St* Lucie County
Fort Pierce

Fort Capron Monument

Stone monument at water's edge, N. Indian River Drive and
Chamberlain Boulevard

Site of a Third Seminole War fort that replaced Fort
Pierce from the Second Seminole War. Forts were often
moved short distances because of disease or to obtain
better water.

Old Fort Pierce Park

975 S. Indian River Drive

Site of the original Fort Pierce, the small park has a stone
monument and the remains of a pre-contact Indian
mound.

St* Lucie County Regional History Center

414 Seaway Drive
772.462.1795

stlucieco.gov

Exhibits on local history, with an excellent exhibit on
Fort Pierce, the Seminole Wars, and Seminole culture.

Qoutfmcst ^^egion

Collier County
Everglades City

Museum of the Everglades

105 W. Broadway
239,695,0008

evergladesmuseum.org

The museum has a small exhibit on the Seminole Wars
and a film about the 10,000 Islands, describing their
importance in the wars. On nearby Chokoloskee
Island is the Smallwood Store Museum, a post-war
trading post.

"We were marching through water from six
inches to three feet deep, forty-eight days. ... No
more than two hundred men of the eight hundred
could be mustered for duty, fevers, diarrheas, and
swollen feet and ankles ... having laid up in the
hospital three-fourths of the command"

- Captain George McCall

Campaigning in the Everglades

The Seminole Wars were a new type of warfare for
the United States military, and operating in the swamps
of South Florida proved extremely difficult. Patrols could
last for weeks, and the heat, dampness, and disease
all added to the soldiers' misery. Colonel St. George-
Rogers lamented, "The troops are very much weakened
by sickness." He believed only those acclimated to the
climate were able to tolerate the duty. "One single scout

^^^'Here^We Make Our Stand."

. (Artist Jackson Walker, image courtesy of ttie artist)

Naples

Collier County Museum

3301 E. Tamiami Trail
239.252.8476

coIIiermuseums.com

Features a large display on the Seminole Wars, including
mannequins in military and native dress. On the
grounds is a replica of a small fort typical of the type
found in the area, plus a native village.

Replica effort at Collier County Museum.

of seven days will disable men of any other character,
(even if able to accomplish one) for a long time." Dr.
Jacob Motte wrote, "The saw palmetto proved very
effective in tearing our horses legs, and reducing our
garments to tatters."

It was also extremely frustrating duty. Soldiers
scouting the Everglades would often find deserted
villages and fields, but no Seminole to fight or capture.
As Colonel St. George-Rogers reported, "I found no
indication of the presence of Indians in that country
except in small hunting parties." He also complained
about the unexplored terrain with few landmarks. "The
maps in my possession are reported so inaccurate as to
render it doubtful as to the name of the stream."

It was the type of warfare that required unorthodox
tactics. In December 1840, Colonial William Harney led
an expedition into the Everglades to hunt for the Spanish
Indian Chakaika, who had attacked Harney's soldiers
on the Caloosahatchee and raided the town of Indian
Key. The soldiers traveled in dugout canoes wearing
Seminole clothing, something forbidden by the rules
of "polite" warfare. The ruse worked, and Harney was
successful in his mission.

-Article by Christopher Kimball

Qouthwest ^^^egion

Reenactment of attack on Kennedy-Darling store at Paynes Creek
Historic State Park.

The Panic of 1849

On a warm summer's day, July 21, 1849, the army
at Key West received the report of the wounding of U.S.
Inspector Major William Russell and the killing of trader
James Barker at the Indian River settlement near Fort
Pierce. The report noted that the settlers from most
settlements on the southeast Florida coast had gathered
at the mouth of the Miami River for protection, abandoning
their homes in the face of the new threat. Within days of
receiving the message, a second report noted the attack
on the Kennedy-Darling store on Paynes Creek (as it is
now known) and the deaths of Captain George Payne and
Dempsey Whidden. The report also noted the escape of
store clerk William McCullough, his wife, and infant child.

These attacks caused panic among frontier settlers,
who feared a general Indian uprising. A large military
force moved into Florida to protect the population, which
had almost completely abandoned the frontier. The
Seminole, under the leadership of Billy Bowlegs (Holata
Micco) (page 51) and Sam Jones (Abiaka) (page 42),
stated the killers were outlaws and vowed to produce the
I culprits in exchange for a return to the peace that had
earlier prevailed. Five young men were identified as the
perpetrators and hunted down by the Seminole. As proof
of the Seminole desire for peace, three of the men were
1 turned over to the army, and the severed hand of another

was produced as proof of his death. One had escaped.
; An uneasy peace returned, but mistrust between whites
I and Seminole continued, leading to the Third Seminole
I War in 1 855. _ ^^.^^^ ^^^^^^

Collier-Seminole State Park

20200 E. Tamiami Trail
239.394.3397

floridastateparks.org/ park/ Collier-Seminole
Located in the area of some of the final battles of the
Third Seminole War, there is a replica blockhouse being
restored as a small museum.

DeSoto County

mFort Ogden Marker

9693 SW US17, in front of Fort Ogden Post Office
Marks the site of a camp established during the 1841
campaign against the Seminole in the Big Cypress area.

Glades County
Lakeport

Fort Center

Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area,
Banana Grove Road

Site of a major post in the Second and Third Seminole
Wars. Also a prehistoric archaeological site. Hiking/
biking trail, informational kiosks, but no fort remains.
The fort was named in honor of Lieutenant John Center,
killed at the Battle of Okeechobee.

Seminole Tribe Veteran's Center

Brighton Reservation, 800 E. Harney Pond Road
863.357.7620

semtribe.com

A unique star-shaped building, the center contains an
exhibit on the Seminole Wars and Seminole who have
served in more recent wars.

Hardee County
Bowling Green

Paynes Creek Historic State Park

888 Lake Branch Road
863.375.4717

floridastateparks.org/park/Paynes-Creek
Site of Fort Chokonikla and the attack on the trading
post that led to the "Panic of 1849" (see article, this
page). The park has an excellent museum devoted
to the Seminole Wars, and a trail that leads to a
monument dedicated to those slain in the attack.

Qoutfvwest ^^egion

Zolfo Springs

Pioneer Park & Cracker Trail Museum

US17 & SR64
863.735.0119

hardeecounty.net

Site of a decisive Third Seminole War battle fought on
June 16, 1856, in the aftermath of the Tillis Battle (see
article, page 50), The Cracker Trail Museum has an
exhibit on the Seminole Wars and there is a marker at
the front of the nearby steam locomotive.

Hendry County

Big Cypress Reservation

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum

Big Cypress Reservation, 34725 W. Boundary Road,

Clewiston

877.902.1113

ahtahthiki.com
semtribe.com

The official museum of the Seminole Tribe of Florida,
this excellent facility features artifacts and exhibits on
Seminole culture and the Seminole Wars. The complex
also features a 1.25 mile interpretive boardwalk and
conservation building.

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum.

(Image courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

LaBelle

ffiFort Denaud Marker

On south side of Fort Denaud Bridge, SR78, 5.7 miles west
ofSR29

Site of a major post in both the Second and Third
Seminole Wars, the site was chosen because it was the
farthest steamboats could travel up the Caloosahatchee
River. Patrols often left Fort Denaud for expeditions
into the Big Cypress area.

ffiFort Thompson Marker

SR80, 1.7 miles east of SR29

A fort built during the Second Seminole War and
named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander
Thompson, killed at the Battle of Okeechobee. The
fort, though built on high ground, often had to be
abandoned due to high water.

Highlands County
Sebring

ffiFort Basinger Marker

US98 at Kissimmee River (24 miles east of US27)
Marks the nearby location of a fort built by Colonel
Zachary Taylor's force just prior to the Battle of
Okeechobee. Casualties from the battle were brought to
the fort for immediate medical attention before being
transported back to Tampa.

• Lee County

Cape Coral

ffi Harney's Point Marker

Cape Coral Parkway at Caloosahatchee River

Site of the trading post established by General
Macomb s treaty of 1839 and attacked by the Indians on
July 23 of that year (see article, page 44). Approximately
two dozen of the soldiers and merchants were killed in
the attack.

Fort Myers

Chief Billy Bowlegs Marker

SR80 (2800 Palm Beach Boulevard)
at Billy's Creek

Bowlegs (see article, page 51)
was leader of the Seminole
during the Third Seminole
War and had his camp
further up Billy s Creek.
His surrender in 1858
brought an end to the
Seminole Wars.

1837 Ames Peace Powder
Flask, brass and copper.

(Image courtesy of the
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum)

Qoutfrwest ^^egion

fnFort Myers Marker

In front of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center,
2301 First Street

Marks the location of the original Fort Myers.
Called Fort Harvie in the Second Seminole War, it
was reactivated in 1850 as Fort Myers and served as
headquarters during the Third Seminole War.

Fort Myers Cemetery

3200 Michigan Avenue
239.321.7037

The remains of soldiers who died at Fort Myers were
later reinterred at the city cemetery. A single headstone
for the common grave is at the rear of the cemetery on
Roan Avenue near Headley Lane.

ftt Military Cemetery Marker

1651 Fowler Street

Site of the original fort cemetery, the graves were
discovered during construction in the 20th century and
the remains reinterred in the city cemetery.

Southwest Florida Museum of History

2031 Jackson Street
239.321.7430

swflmuseumofhistory.com

Exhibits on Fort Myers and the Seminole Wars, with
emphasis on the Third Seminole War.

The Willoughby Tillis Battle

Willoughby Tillis was a soldier and officer in the Florida
Volunteer IVIilitia who saw action in north Florida during
the Second Seminole War. After the war he moved
his family to a farm near Fort Meade, and soon found
himself embroiled in one of the major battles of the Third

Seminole War. On
the morning of June
14, 1856, Seminole
warriors attacked
his homestead while
his wife was outside
tending the cows.
Taking refuge in the
house, Tillis, his
family, and a Mr.
Underhill returned fire,
and the only injury
sustained was to their
black servant. In the

Manatee County
Bradenton

Braden Castle Ruins

Braden Castle Mobile Home Park, 27th Street E,, off SR64,
3.7 miles west of 1-75

Ruins of Dr. Joseph Braden s plantation house,
unsuccessfully attacked by Indians during the Third
Seminole War. The accompanying sugar plantation used
a steam-powered mill and employed a large number of
slaves. A marker on site IM tells the story of the house.
The ruins are located within a densely packed mobile
home community and parking is limited.

Willoughby Tillis Battle Monument.

Braden Castle Ruins.

meantime, the Indians killed the livestock and attempted
unsuccessfully to burn the house and barn.

Seven mounted volunteers from nearby Fort Meade,
commanded by Lieutenant Alderman Carlton, responded
and engaged the Indians. Three combatants were killed
on each side, including Lieutenant Carlton, and several
others wounded. Other volunteers joined the pursuit,
and two days later they found the band camped on the
banks of Peas Creek (Peace River) near today's Zolfo
Springs. Nineteen volunteers under Lieutenant Streaty
Parker surprised and attacked the Indians, killing several
and wounding many in fierce hand-to-hand fighting. The
volunteers lost two of their own men, and among the
Indian dead was war leader Oscen Tustennuggee. With
his death and the loss of so many warriors, Seminole
offensives north of Lake Okeechobee ceased. The five
soldiers killed in the two battles were buried together, and
a monument erected in their honor at Fort Meade.

-Article by Christopher Kimball

Qoutftwest ^T^gion

Manatee Historic Village

1404 Manatee Avenue E., 4.7 miles west of 1-75
941.749.7165

manateeclerk.com

Reconstructed pioneer settlement, founded by Colonel
Worth at the end of the Second Seminole War and
attacked during the Third Seminole War. The park
contains a reconstructed house from the period, and
the adjacent cemetery has the grave of a settler who
fought in the war.

South Florida Museum

201 10th Street W.
941.746.4131

southfloridamuseum.org

The museum has a large exhibit on the Seminole Wars
and Seminole culture. The complex also includes the
Bishop Planetarium and Parker Manatee Aquarium.

Ellenton

Gamble Mansion Historic State Park

3708 Patten Avenue (US301)
941.723.4536

floridastateparks.org/park/Gamble-Plantation
A restored example of a Third Seminole War era
plantation home that is open for visitors. Sugar mill
ruins are
located behind
the park on
SR638 with an
accompanying
marker m
telling the
history of
the plantation.

Gamble Mansion Historic State Park.

Billy Bowlegs

The Alachua Seminole
leader Billy Bowlegs' name
was a corruption of a
hereditary name, "Boiek,"
and he was often referred
to by his proper name,
Holata Micco. Although he
was a leader in the Second
Seminole War, Bowlegs
did not come to
prominence until
the final year of
the war. By that
time, nearly all
the leaders
from the
ruling clan
had either
died or been
transported
west. When it
came time for
Colonel Worth to
negotiate an end to the
war. Bowlegs, although

a sub-chief to Sam Jones, was the man Worth spoke to.

Billy Bowlegs, a Seminole Chief.

(Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery)

Pressure to emigrate began to mount on the Seminole
soon after the war ended, but Bowlegs refused to
consider relocation. Large payments were offered, but
all were turned down. When murders were committed
in 1849 (see article, page 48), Bowlegs maintained the
peace by surrendering the perpetrators to white authority.
In 1852 he was taken on a trip to Washington and New
York to meet with President Fillmore and other officials,
but he held firm in his resistance to emigration.

When war broke out in 1855,
Bowlegs waged a defensive
campaign, only engaging the army
when forced to or on advantageous
terms. For the most part, he
refused to negotiate or meet
with emissaries from the
western Seminole. It was
only when the army
had destroyed most of
his people's villages
and crops that he
agreed to give up the
fight. When he and
122 followers boarded
ship for the west, the
Seminole Wars came

to an end . Young Wife of Billy Bowlegs.

(Image courtesy of the Collection
of the Museum of Florida History)

The sons of Ida and Charlie Willie approach the Stranahan Trading Post on
New River at Fort Lauderdale, ca. 1904.

Seminole leader Sam Jones died in the 1860s, but
his rigid dictums against interaction with the white
authorities lived on, enforced well into the mid-20th
century by the Council of Elders. Four-fifths of the
post-war "Seminoles" were Jones' Mikasuki-speaking
people, who continued to shun anything connected to
the government. Men hunted in the Everglades and Big
Cypress and sold hides, feathers, and furs to purchase
manufactured goods from riverside trading posts: nails,
flour, guns & ammunition, salt, tools, mirrors, cotton
cloth, and soon sewing machines.

The Florida East Coast Railroad arrived in Miami in
1896, and land speculation became rampant. Drainage
of the eastern Everglades began in 1906, resulting in
Indian camps and farms being sold as real estate. In
1928 the Tamiami Trail crossed the Everglades, opening
up the Indians' isolated homeland, soon followed by
game wardens enforcing laws that for the Indians
created a major post-war threat.

Around 1917, however, the resilient Mikasuki-speakers
found that they could engage in tourist employment in
Miami's riverside "Seminole Indian Villages" by just living
seasonally in their chickee camps inside the attractions.
By the mid 1930s over one-half of the population were
in exhibition villages along the eastern Seaboard or were
making crafts for the tourist trade. Alligator wrestling
oflfered employment for young men. The women's new art
form of machine-sewn patchwork decorated their clothing
and contributed to their tribal branding, while "Seminole"
dolls and men's woodworking skills contributed to a viable
tribal craft economy. Entrepreneurial Mikasuki moved
from the isolated Everglades to the Tamiami Trail roadway
to open small tourist attractions of their own.

Land on which to house "The Florida Seminoles"
became a governmental issue, and major reservations were
established before the 1940s. Reservations were set up
in the Big Cypress and in Hollywood. Most Muskogee-
speakers moved to the Brighton Reservation near Lake
Okeechobee, and cattle ranching was instituted by the
government both there and at Big Cypress. After World
War II the Bureau of Indian Afl^'airs decided to terminate
support for certain Indian tribes to save money. The
Florida Seminoles were slated for termination, though
only a handful were literate. They and white friends
in the community asked the government for time to
develop a tribal self government. The Seminole Tribe of
Florida became federally recognized in 1957, followed
by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida in 1962.

It was the concept of Indian "sovereignty," a tribal
right upheld by the federal government, that created
new economic possibilities for the poverty-stricken
Florida tribes. The reservation land was "tax-free!" In
the 1970s "Tax Free Seminole Smoke Shops" made
the State of Florida an adversary. Then the concept of
"24/7 Reservation Bingo" was guided through State and
Federal court battles by modern-day strategist James
E. Billie, who as Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of
Florida tested the perimeters of tribal "sovereign rights."
His wins in court helped all tribes across the country.
Forging the way to high stakes gaming, the Seminole
Tribe of Florida's purchase of Hard Rock International
in 2006 placed them in an economic advantage never
before experienced by an American Indian tribe.

- Article and Images Courtesy Patsy West
Seminole/Miccosukee Photo Archive

Bobby Henry (left) and Alan Jumper, dressed for a Traditional Clothing Contest,
Smallwood's Trading Post Historic Site, Chokoloskee.

Contributors

Dr. Paul Backhouse is Director of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki
Seminole Museum and Tribal Historic Preservation
Officer. He received his Ph.D. in Archaeology from
Bournemouth University, Dorset, England.

Dr. James Cusick is Curator of Special Collections
at the P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History at the
University of Florida. He is the author of The Other War
of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of
Spanish East Florida.

Gary Ellis is the Director of Gulf Archeology Research
Institute and is a leading expert on Seminole War
archaeology. He has investigated more than seven
Seminole War period forts and six major battlefields.

Christopher Kimball has been doing historical
programs and living history presentations since 1986
and is a lifetime member of the National Association
of Interpretation. His book, Seminole and Creek
War Chronology J documents events and battles of
the three Seminole Wars.

Dr. Joe Knetsch has published two volumes on the
Seminole Wars and over forty articles on the wars in
various journals. He is also on the advisory board for
the Seminole Wars Foundation and was a full-time
board member from 2006 until 2012.

Frank Laumer has devoted his life to the study of the
Seminole Wars and to the Dade Battle in particular. He is
the author of three books on the Dade Battle, including
Dades Last Command, Massacre!, and Nobody s Hero.

John and Mary Lou Missall are authors and editors
of several books on the Seminole Wars, including The
Seminole Wars: America's Longest Indian Conflict^

Hollow Victory: A Novel of the Second Seminole Wan
This Miserable Pride of a Soldier, and This Torn Land.

Jerry Morris is a long-time student of the Seminole
Wars and co-author of The Fort King Road: Then and
Now, a detailed survey of an important thoroughfare of
the Seminole Wars era.

Harry Pickering is a retired Police Lieutenant from
Coral Gables, Florida, with a Bachelors degree in
Criminal Justice. This third generation Florida native
enjoys pursuing historical studies and research.

Richard Procyk has worked in the field of archaeology
for more than 20 years and has done extensive research
into the Battles of the Loxahatchee and other aspects
of the Seminole Wars. He is author of Guns Across the
Loxahatchee: An Archaeohistorical Investigation of
Seminole War Sites in Florida.

Jackson Walker is an artist who specializes in paintings
depicting important moments in Florida history. His
book Recovering Moments in Time is available from the
Florida Historical Society Press.

Patsy West is Director of the Seminole/Miccosukee
Photo Archive in Fort Lauderdale and a noted
ethnohistorian and museum curator. She is the author
of The Enduring Seminoles and of many articles
that have appeared in publications such as Native
Peoples Magazine and the Journal of the Southern
Anthropological Society.

Pedro Osceola Zepeda is a Seminole artist and
craftsman, and Acquisitions Consultant and former
Outreach Coordinator for the Seminole Tribe s
Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum.

'Florida is certainly the poorest country that ever two people
quarreled for ... a perfect paradise for Indians, alligators, serpents,
frogs, and every other kind of loathsome reptile. ... Why not in the
name of common sense let the Indians have kept it?''

- Captain George McCall

Image Credits:

All photographs by John & Mary Lou Missall unless credited otherwise.
All artwork not individually credited are in public domain.
Original cover design by Jackson Walker.

Front Cover: Osceola by George Catlin; Attack of the Seminoles on the Blockhouse-Florida, ca. 1837, {Image courtesy of the State
Archives of Florida, floridamemory.com/items/show/28612); Pistol, U.S. Model 1836, dated 1841, (Image courtesy of the Collection
of the Museum of Florida History); Billy Bowlegs, a Seminole Chief, (Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery); Eyes to the
Okeechobee, (Artist Jackson Walker, Image courtesy of the artist); Dade Battle reenactment, (Image courtesy John and Mary Lou
Missall); Fort Foster, (Image courtesy of Florida State Parks).

Back Cover: Reenactor John Griffin, descendant of black Seminoles, (Image courtesy of Jackson Walker); Bandolier bag, (Image
courtesy of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum); 1831 Map of Florida, (Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida,
floridamemory.com/items/show/143879); New Smyrna ruins, (Image courtesy of John and Mary Lou Missall); Bill Gruber, manager
of the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park, (Image courtesy of Willis Tate).

further ^^l^acfing

Interested in learning more about the Seminole Wars?
The following titles will get you started, whether you
want a general overview or would like to explore certain
aspects in greater detail.

Bemrose, John. Reminiscences of the Second Seminole
War. Seminole Wars Foundation and University of
Tampa Press, 2001.

Buker, George E. Swamp Sailors in the Second Seminole
War Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997.

Covington, James. The Seminoles of Florida,
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993.

Cusick, James G. The Other War of 1812: The Patriot
War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida,
Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2007.

Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Old Hickory's
War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire,
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1996.

Kimball, Chris. Seminole and Creek War Chronology,
Amazon.com, 2014.

Knetsch, Joe. Fear and Anxiety on the Florida Frontier:
Articles on the Second Seminole War, Dade City:
Seminole Wars Foundation Press, 2008.

Knetsch, Joe. Florida's Seminole Wars: 1817-1858,
Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Laumer, Frank, ed. Amidst a Storm of Bullets: The
Diary ofLt, Henry Prince in Florida, 1836-1842,
Seminole Wars Foundation and University of Tampa
Press, 1998.

Laumer, Frank. Dades Last Command, Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 1995.

Mahon, John K. History of the Second Seminole War
Rev. Ed., Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1985.

Missall, John and Mary Lou. The Seminole Wars:
America's Longest Indian Conflict, Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 2004.

Missall, John and Mary Lou, eds. This Miserable Pride
of a Soldier: The Letters and Journals of Col, William
S, Foster in the Second Seminole War Seminole Wars
Foundation and the University of Tampa Press, 2005.

Morris, Jerry C. and Jeffrey A. Hough. The Fort King
Road: Then and Now, Seminole Wars Foundation, 2009.

Porter, Kenneth W. The Black Seminoles: History of a
Freedom-Seeking People, Revised and edited by Alcione
M. Amos and Thomas P. Senter. Gainesville: University
Press of Florida, 1996.

Potter, Woodburne. The War in Florida, Enhanced
Edition by John and Mary Lou Missall. Seminole Wars
Foundation Press, 2013.

Procyk, Richard J. Guns Across the Loxahatchee:
An Archaeohistorical Investigation of Seminole War
Sites in Florida, with a special focus on the Battle of
Loxahatchee, January 24, 1838, Cocoa: The Florida
Historical Society Press, 1999.

Sprague, Capt. John T. The Florida War A reproduction
of the 1848 edition of The Origin, Progress, and
Conclusion of the Florida War Seminole Wars
Foundation and University of Tampa Press, 2000.

Walker, Jackson. Recovering Moments In Time: The
Florida History Paintings of Jackson Walker, Cocoa:
Florida Historical Society Press, 2013.

Weisman, Brent R. Unconquered People: Florida's
Seminole and Miccosukee Indians, Gainesville:
University Press of Florida, 1999.

West, Patsy. The Enduring Seminoles: From Alligator
Wrestling to Ecotourism, Gainesville: University Press of
Florida, 1998.

Wickman, Patricia Riles. Osceola's Legacy, Revised
Edition. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama
Press, 2006.

All titles are available from the Seminole Wars
Foundation, Inc. To order, visit seminolewars.org

Moses Jumper, Jr., leads the Indian attack at the Big Cypress Shootout Reenactment.

Rattle ^^l^enactments

Experience the drama of the Seminole Wars by
attending one of the many battle reenactments held
at several locations throughout Florida. Most events
are held at parks that feature hiking trails, museums,
or river access, and many have period vendors and
demonstrators. Each event is unique and exhibits a
different aspect of Seminole War history.

Below is a list of events held at state parks and
approximate dates. Contact the park for exact dates and
details at floridastateparks.org. Events are also held at
local parks and include Billy Swamp Safari at the Big
Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Loxahatchee
Battlefield Park, Fort Christmas Historical Park, and
others. Check with local parks and museums for
Seminole War related events in your area.

Alligator Warrior Festival, O'Leno State Park, High
Springs, late October; 386.454.1853.

Fort Foster Candlelight Christmas, Hillsborough
River State Park, Thonotosassa, early December;
813.987.6771.

Dade Battle Reenactment, Dade Battlefield Historic
State Park, Bushnell, early January; 352.793.4781.

Fort Chokonikla Encampment, Paynes Creek Historic
State Park, Bowling Green, late January; 863.375.4717.

Visitors attending a camp-life demonstration, Dade Battle Reenactment.

Fort Foster Rendezvous, Hillsborough River State
Park, Thonotosassa, mid-February; 813.987.6771.

Battle of Okeechobee Reenactment, Okeechobee
Battlefield Historic State Park, Okeechobee, late
February; 863.462.5360.

Fort Cooper Days, Fort Cooper State Park, Inverness,
mid-March; 352.726.0315.

^ Fort Site

A Indian Village

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